Half of My Heart
by Ayaki-Chan
Summary: Tsuna and Natsu are twins, and they have always been together. They are light and dark, both sides of the same coins, each a part of the other. But when Reborn arrives, both find themselves pitted against each other against their will. As the two struggle to protect another from the relentless mafia, they strive for a future they can't possibly have. ADOPTED by AngelicChan6
1. Chapter 1: Double Trouble

**AN****: I should be writing the next chapter of "Butterfly with Invisible Wings"...but I'm on a piece of writer's block. I'm not sure if I'll ever finish this, but I'll try. Read the stuff on the bottom. It's IMPORTANT. Also, I might expand on certain things at the bottom. This is for only the first chapter.**

**Disclaimer****: Don't own. Otherwise Tsuna's dying will form will never be invented**

**Warnings****: Yaoi/Slash (Dunno if there's gonna be romance but if there are, it ain't straight), Incest (Maybe, or just Bromance),OOCness, AU, Mentions of Pagan legends, Violence, Blackmail, Humiliation, Unimportant OCs (Natsu is not OC), Cursing etc. **

**Notes****: Tsuna is normal Tsuna and Natsu is HDW!Tsuna. Their appearance are changed, deal with it. I tweaked their personalities a little too, I have to make Natsu human. Not a total battle-crazy antisocial icecube. Note that I have made Tsuna have OCD. OCD is an anxiety disorder in which cause people to have unwanted or repeated thoughts, feelings, ideas, or irrational behavior. It also causes severe uneasiness, apprehension, fear, worry, basically paranoid. Also has strange beliefs. For example, fear of certain numbers etc. People who have them is thought to have above-average intelligence as the irrational behavior often emerge in high attention to detail, risk avoidance, planning, etc. Some OCD patients, are known to be 'allergic' to messes, and then is compulsed to go on a cleaning spree.**

**Chapter 1: Double Trouble**

Sawada Natsuyuki and Sawada Tsunayoshi were about as close as twins could get. They were also almost never separated from each other. Their mother, Sawada Nana swore up and down by her father's grave that the longest time they ever been apart was exactly 15 minutes and 25 seconds, and that was for their births. So it was common knowledge to all the residents of Namimori that if you wanted one twin, the other had to follow or they could just forget it.

Of course, if someone disagreed with that train of thought and tried to separate them...Well, the Sawada Twins were also famous for their 'counterattacks'. When they were age 7, one of the local middle schoolers made the mistake of forcing the twins to compete on separate teams during a soccer gane.

The next day, the middle schooler found himself covered in a mixture of pink paint and polka-dot feathers, dumped by his girlfriend, and his reputation in ruins after _somebodies _told all his peers about him still wetting his bed. It was only later that the Sawada Twins's involvement was discovered, but by then, the middle schooler really did not want to risk their wrath.

The twins were a deadly combination. If they combined their talents and personality traits they were lethal. Natsuyuki 'Natsu', the older twin, had an explosive temper, coupled with knee deep stubbornness and sense of honor, and was a genius in sports. Tsunayoshi or 'Tsuna' to his friends, had a ridiculously accurate intuition. Add it with his OCD (Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder), and Tsunayoshi was a talking encyclopedia of observation, filled with reputation crippling gossip and blackmail.

Out of the twins, Natsu was the hotheaded, more outgoing one. Though his temper had put him in more than one tight spot and had caused more than it's share fair of arguments, his temper was cooled by his boundless stubbornness and sense of honor and justice. This made him acted like a vigilante, putting him at odds with those in power, which unfortunately also meant that he was in detention nearly every day and was butting heads with the infamous Disciplinary Committee Perfect, Hibari Kyoya.

When not in rage, Natsu drew people to him like a moths to a flame, his stubbornness and sense of honor attracting people. He was quick to protect those he cared about, inspiring loyalty throughout. He had a brother complex the size of Mt. Everest and was average in intelligence.

Tsuna, on the other hand, was the quieter one, the one that kept his older twin brother in check. He was the one who was often pacifying his twin's temper and he was an excellent listener. The kinder and more compassionate one, Tsuna couldn't turn away even enemies if they need help, whether they requested or not. He was trusting and more than willing to offer friendship over conflict. Tsuna was loyal to fault, and was loved by his peers. He was shy though, and scared rather easily. He was also sometimes rather clumsy, causing him to fail at any sports. It was also a common sight to see Natsu drag Tsuna around, but then again, Tsuna did too.

But despite that, he was not to be underestimated. If anyone managed the miracle of triggering his mile long temper, they would find their reputation obliterated, hated by their peers, and thoroughly humiliated. Being quiet, loyal, and a good listener had made Tsuna the hoarder and protector of the secrets of his classmates and the residents of Namimori. His OCD and intuition just made him even better. Often more than not, Tsuna provided the sword and Natsu stabbed the enemy with it.

Despite the differences in personality, they were similar in appearance, though not exact. Both of them had chocolate brown eyes that gleamed amber in the sunlight and had the same face. But Tsuna was shorter than Natsu by an inch and an half. Natsu as also more built, Tsuna being more slender.

Both also had similar hairstyles. Natsu's hair was slightly more wild and layered, that fell to his neck with equal length sidebangs. Tsuna's hair was pretty much exact except his hair was slightly longer and his bangs fell to his shoulders. His hair was also not as wild. Natsu's hair was blonde like their father but Tsuna's was a pale brown like his mother's.

Their bond was something to be envied yet to be cherished. They would not have left each other willingly and would never ever if they could do anything about it. Unfortunately, there wish would soon be crushed and only with their burning resolve would they put it back together.

* * *

"Neh, Oni-san."

"What, Tsuna?" asked Natsu, looking over to Tsuna from their shared bed, lying on his back with his arms around his head. Their mother had once gotten the idea of them wanting their own rooms, which had been quickly squashed.

"Do...do you think we'll always be together?" asked Tsuna quietly, facing his twin brother. His face was forlorn, like there was some invisible burden on his shoulders. Huddled under the bedsheets, Tsuna looked like a lost puppy.

Pushing himself up into sitting position, Natsu stared at Tsuna incredulously. Natsu's eyes glowed with an amber hue in the darkness, clashing with his white tank top.

"What kind of question is that? Of course we'll always be together."

Tsuna nodded, though his expression didn't really change. Sighing, Natsu's hand ran through his blonde hair in habit. Turning his full body to Tsuna, revealing grey shorts, Natsu sat cross legged.

"What's wrong?" asked Natsu flatly, "You look like you heard me release 10 chihuahua's on your butt with no escape in sight."

"Just a feeling" mumbled Tsuna, "And why wouldn't I be? Chihuahua's are scary."

Natsu snorted, "Tsuna . You're 6 times bigger than it." Even with his teasing though, Natsu felt a sense of foreboding. Tsuna's intuition was ridiculously accurate, and had save Natsu in more than one tight spot. Yet there was no use dwelling on it. It would be best to just be careful, any keep an extra eye on Tsuna.

Tsuna pouted. Smiling, Natsu placed an hand on Tsuna's head. "I'm right, aren't I. Come on, let's go to sleep. We got school tomorrow. I promise we're going to be fine."

Nodding, Tsuna closed his eyes and quickly fell asleep. Chuckling, Natsu soon joined him, pulling the bed sheets over them. Hopefully, tomorrow would be fine.

How wrong he was.

* * *

Staring in disbelief at the unknown infant in front of him, Natsu nearly missed the thud of steps that signaled Tsuna's arrival. _Why couldn't the morning be normal for once? _thought Natsu, putting a hand to his face in exasperation.

"Good Morning, Oni-san" said Tsuna groggily, rubbing his eyes, still dressed in his sleepwear which consisted of a baggy white long-sleeved cotton shirt with matching shorts. Pulling his hands away from eyes, Tsuna finally noticed the strange toddler in their house.

And the toddler was strange. His spiky black hair, matching eyes, and olive skin was normal enough, but what he was wearing was what was strange. He wore a black suit, with an red dress shirt and blue tie. He also had a fedora on his head along with a chameleon and sideburns of all things. But the glowing yellow pacifier made the scene a little more normal.

Babies were supposed to have pacifiers right?

"Oni-san..why is there a baby in our house?" asked Tsuna, cocking his head sideways. Natsu could only shake his head, himself thoroughly confused.

Seeing his brother's confusion, Tsuna approached the baby and knelt down at his heels. Picking the infant up by putting his hands under his arms, Tsuna lifted the infant into the air.

"You're so adorable!" cooed Tsuna, "I wonder where's your mom?..."

To the twin's shock, the toddler brought up his hand and saluted his hat, all the while smirking. "Ciaossu. Thank you for the compliment. My name is Reborn, the world's #1 hitman. I'm here to tutor you and your twin as a mafia boss."

Natsu frozed and Tsuna turned as white as a sheet of paper. Dropping Reborn in shock, Tsuna stumbled back, only half-aware of Reborn who landed gracefully back to the floor. Putting a hand over his mouth, Tsuna stared wide eyed at Reborn.

Synchronizing as only twins could, the two yelled at the top of their lungs:

"MOM!"

**Just a tester chapter. Favorite, Follow, and Review please.**


	2. Chapter 2: Chaotic in the Womb

**AN****: Quick Update, right? Well, this story is really dragging me in. I hope you all enjoy this chapter. Anyway, just to make it clear, I'm going to try and keep it a Natsu, Tsuna, than Natsu, next Tsuna POV order, ok?**

**Note****: I mentioned OCD a lot in this chapter, it's not meant to me a major factor but it's still important. Any questions about OCD you are free to ask or look at the notes in chapter 1. Also, I noticed some mistakes I made in Chapter 1 so I edited it, nothing major though.**

**Chapter 2: Chaotic in the Womb**

"Ka-san, We told you. We don't need a tutor" sighed Natsu, thoroughly disgruntled. _For good reason _thought Tsuna privately. Both him and Natsu had decent, passing grades, good enough to get into a decent high school. There was no need for a tutor.

Add that to Natsu's guaranteed scholarship with sports and his OCD, which had made him memorize, word for word, the entire textbook of every subject of the year, they were set for a good high school. Sometimes, OCD was worth it, despite the fact it was going to turn his hair white by the time he hit 30.

Playing with his food with the side of his chopstick, Tsuna darted a glance at Reborn. The talking infant had been calm the entire time, and it unnerved him greatly. Maybe it was just his OCD talking, but something told him that Reborn was here to stay, and that it would change his life, greatly.

"But, Na-kun! Reborn-san here can make you the 'leaders of your generation'! And it's completely free, we just need to provide food and shelter!" said Nana, smiling. In perfect synchronization, Natsu and Tsuna sighed.

Resting his head on his hands, Tsuna stared at his mother with a mix of amusement and exasperation. As nice as his mother was, she was remarkably oblivious. Natsu always said he was sure that Tsuna inherited her obliviousness.

"Ni-san, just forget it. Let it rest. Reborn can stay" said Tsuna, interrupting his twin's reply. Throwing down his chopsticks, Tsuna rubbed his head. The situation was giving him a headache. The argument had been going on since Reborn's arrival.

"But-" started Natsu, but a sharp look from Tsuna quickly shut him up.

Turning to Nana, Tsuna said, "Me and Natsu gotta go school now, Ka-san. We'll see you later ok?"

Once Nana nodded in understanding, Tsuna left the dining room in favor for his bedroom. Padding up the stairs carefully, Tsuna was relieved to hear Natsu following him. That meant Natsu wasn't going to be purposely late. Seriously, Natsu's vigilante-like behavior was going to get him in trouble later on.

Upon reaching their shared bedroom, Tsuna immediately darted to his closet and pulled out his uniform. Quickly pulling off his pajamas, He donned the uniform with obsessive practice. Whether it was due to his OCD or his fear of the disciplinary committee's strict rules he would never know.

Pulling up the black pant's of the uniform, he quickly zipped them and put on his black belt. Then he buttoned up his white dress shirt and put his blue tie around the collar. Next, he jerked on a sleeveless black wool vest and straightened the cuffs of his dress shirt. After putting on his socks, He grabbed his book bag, which had a long strap so Tsuna could wear it like a messenger bag, and glanced over at his twin.

Almost immediately, Tsuna rolled his eyes at the scene in front of him. "Do you have to go out of your way to mess with Hibari-san?" asked Tsuna with a patronizing tone as he grabbed Natsu's book bag, who's strap was much shorter.

Natsu shrugged, "Someone needs to stand up to him."

"But through your uniform?" said Tsuna, shaking his head in disbelief. Natsu had a long-standing disregard for authority and was often the one who questioned it. He took it to a new level with Hibari though, claiming the guy was a tyrant. Not that he wasn't. Sort of.

"Gotta start somewhere" claimed Natsu, smiling a small smile. Indeed, Natsu had tweaked his uniform. Though Natsu claimed it was to protest against Hibari, Tsuna had the quiet suspicion that Natsu just didn't like the uniform and wanted to make it look cooler.

His uniform was the same in clothes, but there was certain tweaks. Natsu wore studded crossing belts instead of a plain black one, and a red strap hung visibly around his neck. Wristbands of all kinds of color with blocky writing adorn his wrist. He also wore his uniform in a sloppy manner with his shirt untucked and his collar frayed. Just looking at it made Tsuna's OCD twitch, he longed to neaten Natsu up.

Snorting, Tsuna threw Natsu's book bag at his face, which Natsu caught with a smile, and ran down the stairs, nearly tripping in the was pulling on his orange tennis shoes when Natsu arrived.

"See you later, Ka-san!" called Tsuna to his mom before dragging Natsu out, who was halfway finished with putting on his shoes. Yelping, Natsu was forced to hop outside before he managing to put on his shoes.

"Tsuna!" pouted Natsu, swinging his book bag over his shoulder. Tsuna shot him a mischievous look before taking off, yelling "Last one there is a rotten egg" over his shoulder.

Growling, Natsu ran after his twin. Tsuna smiled, wind blowing through his pale brown hair and his eyes flashing amber with laughter in the sunlight. High in the chase, Tsuna nearly bumped into a young girl when he turned the corner. Unfortunately, Natsu quickly remedied it and bumped into Tsuna which caused him to bump into the unfortunate passerbyer.

"Itai.." winced Tsuna as he sat up from where he fell from the collision. Opening the eyes that he had unconsciously closed, Tsuna gave a look-over to the girl he had bumped into.

Almost immediately, he recognized her. Sasagawa Kyoko, the idol of Namimori Middle School, the role model of all the girls, and the crush of the majority of the school. Known to be a follower of rules and a kind and compassionate person, she had gained popularity among the students of Namimori the day she entered.

She was pretty, in the simple entrancing way. She had plain brown hair and eyes and nice skin. Nothing any normal girl couldn't get. But if you took a second look, you could see the orange hue of her hair and lively look in her eyes. You could see the warm welcoming smile and the long shapely legs. In all she looked like an innocent, abit simple, beauty.

Tsuna knew better. As a master of observation and as well as a hoarder of secrets, he knew that the girl wasn't completely innocent as she often appeared.. Otherwise her best friend, the cynical loner Kurokawa Hana wouldn't have bother observing, much less becoming friends, with her if she was like that.

"Gomen, Sasagawa-chan" said Tsuna, pushing himself to his feet, while Natsu gave her a hand.

"It's not your fault. I should have moved out of the way" said Kyoko pacifyingly, brush dirt off her brown mini skirt, the only difference between the Namimori Male uniform to the Female uniform. "Well, I see you two at school!"

With that, she walked away. Tsuna's eyes followed her form until she walked out of sight, only paying half an ear to Natsu, who was berating him to be careful next time.

"Seriously, you could get hurt!" said Natsu, bring a hand to ruffle his already wild blonde hair.

"I'll be careful next time, Ni-san" Tsuna told Natsu. They were about to continue their walk to school when a familiar, childish voice interrupted them. Looking in the direction of the voice, they saw Reborn, who promptly jumped onto the top of Tsuna's hair.

"Ciaossu. You have a crush on that girl, don't you, Tsuna?" questioned Reborn, as he made himself comfortable on top of Tsuna's head.

Tsuna and Natsu blinked before looking at eachother. Looking up at Reborn, Tsuna said "Sasagawa Kyoko? No not really. And how do you know my name?"

"I'm a hitman, I just know" explained Reborn, as if it was the answer to everything. He then pointed to Natsu. "And he's Natsuyuki or simply 'Natsu', correct?"

Tsuna just smiled, amused by the strange baby's antics. "Sure, whatever. Me and Tsuna have to go to school now. So why don't you head back to Ka-san, now?" drawled Natsu, rolling his eyes at Tsuna.

"Tch" growled Reborn, standing to his feet. Moving faster than Tsuna could see, the talking toddler proceeded to kick Natsu in the forehead before disappearing into the nearby trees.

"Insane Kid" muttered Natsu as he rubbed his head. He quickly regretted his remark when a gunshot exploded from the trees and landed just a millimeter from Natsu's face, leaving a small scratch on Natsu's cheek. The twins blinked as a drop of blood fell from Natsu's cheek.

Wordlessly, Tsuna dug into his book bag and pulled out a bandaid for Natsu. It was a common enough occurrence for both Natsu and Tsuna to get hurt. Natsu from Hibari, and Tsuna from his own clumsiness.

Staring at the bullet after the bandage was firmly in place, for a minute both twins were convinced that the strange baby that arrived at their house this morning was telling the truth. Then they looked at each other and said "Nah."

As the twins continued on their way, slower than when they began, they were clueless to the pitch black eyes of a certain cursed infant. As for the infant himself, Reborn was pleased by the two, though slightly apprehensive of the heartache that was no doubt ahead.

Soon enough, the twins arrived at the gates of Namimori Middle School, the pride and joy of one Hibari Kyoya. The Hibari Kyoya who was waiting at the gates to 'bite to death' any unfortunate late student. Thankfully they were on time. But Natsu wasn't in the correct uniform. Oops.

Hibari looked absolutely terrifying, despite the fact he was only 2 inches taller than Tsuna himself. But with his windsweep black hair and piercing silver eyes, and neat disciplinary committee uniform, he looked like a gentleman yakuza member, complete with metal tonfas, filled with secret gadgets, that were currently hidden. Natsu probably knew more though.

"Ohayo, Hibari-san" called Tsuna cheerfully, while Natsu glared at Hibari, muttering "teme" under his breath. Hibari didn't reply except with the sudden appearances of his tonfas. Tsuna nudged Natsu before walking away, calling over his shoulders a "Be careful, Ni-san." Not before snitching Natsu's book bag of course. He didn't want it to be damaged in the fight.

As he walked away, Tsuna could clearly hear the sounds of metal hitting flesh and yelps of pain. Tsuna pouted. Why couldn't his idiotic twin obey the rules, and not get on Hibari's nerves, for once? But then again, Natsu did need someone to beat down his ego once in awhile.

An audible "Ack!" sounded in Tsuna's ears as he closed the front door of Namimori Middle School behind him, humming a tune under his breath as if nothing strange was happening. But then again, this was an ordinary occurrence. Sometimes, Tsuna thought his twin was a masochist. Maybe Natsu was, Tsuna wasn't sure.

Turning to the bored looking disciplinary committee vice-president who was looking outside at the beat down that was occurring, Tsuna smiled and said "Kusakabe-san, can you write a late pass for me and Natsu, along with a pass to the nurse for Natsu?"

Kusakabe nodded absentmindedly, taking out a piece of paper and writing a quick note on it. After years of the same occurrences, the two had managed to reach some sense of mutual understanding. Though not close enough to be friends, they managed to operate in a civil manner. Tsuna had even managed to get used to the 'regent' hairstyle of his.

Humming, Tsuna sat down on one of the many chairs of Namimori Middle School's Lobby with Natsu's book bag firmly in his lap. This would take a while.

**Follow, Favorite, or Review please. Next Chapter will be Updated as soon as I can possible can.**


	3. Chapter 3: Sword in My Hand

**AN: ****Lovely story this it, isn't it? I think I'm favoring it more than my other one.**

**Note****: Yamamoto refers to most people without honorifics. Natsu does the same with Yamamoto since they are teammates. Tsuna is more obsessed with honorifics.**

**Chapter 3: Sword in My Hand**

"Aah, Tsuna is such a meanie" pouted Natsu as he walked up the stairs, his beaten figure covered in dirt and scratches. Hibari, as always, wasn't exact merciful. Even less to those he deemed Rule-breaking-Insolent-Crowding-No-good-Herbivores . And Unfortunately for Natsu, that was exactly what Hibari deemed him. Most of the time anyway.

"EH! How am I an meanie?!" yelled Tsuna from the top of the stairs, his usually kind face twisted into a small scowl, though it looked more like an adorable pout. Natsu smiled as his younger twin's cuteness, even as he winced. Hibari sure hits hard thought Natsu when he finally reached his brother.

Usually the wounds wouldn't have hurt that much, mostly because of the help of the school nurse. But when they had went to the nurse office to treat Natsu's wounds they found an unfamiliar male nurse instead of their normal old female nurse. For some reason, the male nurse didn't treat him. Whatever it was, Neither Tsuna nor Natsu were happy with it.

"Because you didn't help your Ni-san when that teme was kicking him around" huffed Natsu. He wasn't really mad, but it was fun to tease Tsuna.

Tsuna rolled his eyes, "You deserved it anyway. If you actually wore your uniform properly for once, Hibari-san wouldn't have to go through the bother of biting you to death everyday."

"But Tsuna~!" complained Natsu as they reached their homeroom, A-1.

"No buts!" said Tsuna as he slid open the door of A-1, and walked in. Grumbling, Natsu walked in after him, just in time to see Tsuna hand in their pass to their homeroom teacher, a young brunette with high-heels and her hair in a bun called Fujimori Miyako.

Nodding in understanding, Fujimori-sensei excepted the pass, and dismissed Tsuna to his seat in the 3rd row, right next to the window. Turning to Natsu, She was about to dismiss him when she stopped midway.

"Sawada-kun, are you okay? Do you need to go to the nurse's office?" asked Fujimori-sensei, worried. He probably wasn't a pretty sight with his injuries.

Waving a hand to dismiss the young teacher's distress, Natsu explained, "Don't bother. There's a new nurse, and he won't treat me for some reason..."

Fujiwara-sensei made a face. It was oblivious to Natsu that she didn't really like the guy. Tossing a smile over, Natsu took his seat right next to Tsuna, who was digging through his book bag, his face twisted in an expression of mild panic.

Upon finding the object he sought, he sighed in relief. Natsu looked on an amusement. No doubt in an couple minutes, Tsuna would be searching for the object once again. If there was one thing Natsu knew about OCD from living with Tsuna, it was that.

"Ohayo Natsu, Tsuna!" called a familiar voice. Looking over, Natsu saw Yamamoto Takeshi, a long time friends of his. They had met, along with Tsuna, in kindergarten. Though not particularly close, they were still friends and teammates in baseball, though Natsu preferred basketball over the sport.

Yamamoto was a full head over the twins, much to Natsu and Tsuna's chagrin, and it showed when he walked over, leaping across desks. He had a head of spiky black hair and a pair of large gold-brown eyes. He too wore a variation of the uniform, though one that followed the uniform policy, to Tsuna's pride and Natsu's distaste, that had no tie but instead wore a black wool sweater.

"Ohayo, Yamamoto!" Natsu replied before sneaking a glance at his twin. True to his prediction, he was going through his book bag once again. Tsuna seemed to not have heard their new companion.

Natsu and Yamamoto exchanged mischievous glances. With quick silent movements, Yamamoto crept behind Tsuna to covered his eyes. At that same time, Natsu leaned in to Tsuna's ear to mutter a quick but frightening "Boo!"

Well, tried to anyway.

Without looking up from his book bag, Tsuna said in a calm, but threatening, voice, "Yamamoto if you try to cover my eyes, I'm telling Mizuki-sempai about your little crush on his you-know-what and Natsu, say a word and the whole school will know that during the Namimori Sakura Festival last year you tried-"

Natsu automatically covered Tsuna's mouth with his hand, and hissed "You promised to never tell anyone that!"

Meanwhile, Yamamoto turned a bright cherry red, and chuckled nervously, "As observant as your reputation say, no wonder they call you Yomoku-Tsuna **(1)**"

Tsuna licked Natsu's hand, causing his twin to retrace it quickly. Turning to Yamamoto, Tsuna pouted, "It's just that the people here are so easy to read, and you should confess already Yamamoto-kun, as sad as it is!"

"Confess? You have a crush?" asked Natsu curiously, turning to Yamamoto with a surprised look on his face. The baseball prodigy and captain was blushing a fiery red. Raising an eyebrow, Natsu whistled. It wasn't often that anyone could take Yamamoto's attention from baseball, the guy was obsessed with it.

Tsuna was snickering, no giggling, into his hand. Yamamoto mumbled something, Natsu couldn't here.

"What?" asked Natsu, confusion evident in his voice. Rolling his eyes, Tsuna decided to put Yamamoto and Natsu out of there misery. Leaning over, Tsuna quickly whispered something to Natsu's ear.

Natsu blinked. His mouth was set into an O-shape in understanding. "Oh" said Natsu, "That makes a lot more sense. But it is a little sad..."

"No it's not!" said Yamamoto heatley. "She's absolutely beautiful!"

"Yamamoto" said Natsu patiently.

"She's as smooth as silk!"

"Yamamoto."

"She won't break against the toughest of adversity!"

"Yamamoto!"

"She's this lovely shade of brown!"

"Yamamoto, 'she' is a wooden bat. You want to date a baseball bat, it's not even human!"

At that point, the classmates that have been slowly eavesdropping on their baseball star's conversation facepalmed. They had come to the conclusion that their star had a crush on a tough arabian girl, only to be sorely disappointed.

"Class! Please go back to your assigned seats! I would like to introduce a new transfer student!" announced Fujimori-sensei. With some grumbling and excited whispers, the class settled down in their seats.

With a quick look-over, Fujimori-sensei deemed the class presentable and quick yelled at the transfer student to come in. Natsu was curious. It was a strange time for a transfer student to come in, It was a month in the school year already.

The door slid open and an impressive young man walked in. He was the type of guy the teacher's would label a troublemaker and the girl's would call bad boy. With strange silver hair shaped like an octopus and split through the middle-like the new nurse's Natsu realized; were they related?-and piercing green eyes, he was exotic in looks. Judging by the boy's olive skin, he was italian too.

He wore a variation of the school uniform, with a few tweaks realized Natsu with glee. His uniform was exactly the same as Tsuna's except he wore his shirt untucked and had a black jacket instead of the vest. Natsu could see gothic rings adorning the boy's fingers and a similar belt around the guy's waist.

"Tch. My name is Gokudera Hayato" growled the new transfer student, and immediately the class erupted in a chorus of excited whispers. Glancing at Tsuna, he was surprise to find that he wasn't looking at Gokudera.

Raising an eyebrow at him, Natsu got his answer when Tsuna whispered, "Looks like Yamamoto has a new crush."

Following Tsuna's gaze across the room, Natsu realized that Yamamoto did look a little lovesick. His eyes were slightly wider than usual and his smile bigger, his neck was also looking redder than normal. Nothing you would call unusual unless you knew what you were looking for though.

Smirking at Yamamoto, Natsu was taken by surprise when Gokudera suddenly kicked his desk, knocking it on his side. Natsu's eyes widen in a mix of shock and anger, he hadn't even seen Gokudera coming. Tsuna's eyes were narrowed with concern, that he could see from the corner of his eyes.

A stunned silence resound across the whole room before noise started once again. Vaguely, he could hear Fujimori-sensei yelling at the transfer student, who simply ignored her and walked to the empty seat that was two seats back of his own.

Frowning, Natsu locked eye contact with Gokudera. Piercing green met an angered brown. After a minute, both of them broke eye contact. He would watch him for now. If the transfer student tried something similar again, there would be hell to pay.

**(1) It mean's Hawkeye-Tsuna. Translated from Google so it might be wrong. And yes, it just might be from fullmetal alchemist. I claim nothing from it, so do not sue me.**

**Review, Favorite, and Follow please. Thank you for the reviews last chapter XD. Commentary and suggestions will be treated with appreciation. **


	4. Chapter 4: Quelling the Midst

**AN****: Hello, The chapters finally up. Though it's longer than expected.**

**Note****: I made a couple OCs that are NOT relevant to the story. I just need some names so Tsuna can blackmail people :). There's also cursing, deal with it.**

**Chapter 4: Quelling the Midst**

The headache started shortly after the introduction of the new transfer ended. It wasn't uncommon. Tsuna had found out early in life, that he was prone to seemingly random headaches that diverting from sending him to the Emergency Room-giving his twin a heart attack-to being a mild nuisance.

The headache had started out small, mild at best, but as class droned on, Tsuna founded it growing until Tsuna had to struggle to concentrate. Rubbing his head with his left hand while his right diligently jot down notes in his ridiculously neat notebook, courtesy of his OCD, Tsuna was horribly distracted.

Speaking of the new transfer student, Tsuna didn't know what to feel about Gokudera Hayato. He certainly hadn't gotten into his good books by kicking Natsu's desk. To make it worst, the silver haired boy was glaring at Natsu like a jealous brat.

But despite Tsuna's doubts, his intuition screamed that the boy was good. That, and the boy's motives were suspicious. His actions were hostile, and he seemed to be focused only on Natsu. Add that with their not-so-unknown staring contest, Tsuna came to the conclusion that Gokudera Hayato considered Natsu as a rival for something, and wanted his attention.

The complete disregard and lack of attention to the rest of the class, said that the guy did not consider them a rival. Too pick out Natsu from the rest of the more, admittingly, tougher-looking boys, it would mean that Gokudera Hayato was already familiar with Natsu. But Tsuna knew that couldn't be possible, because they had never met Gokudera Hayato before this day.

Thus, Tsuna's headache. Damn it.

As his headache spiked again, Tsuna winced, his pen stopping in his tracks. All this thinking was just making his headache worst. Just stop thinking he told himself. Of course, it didn't work. There was a reason OCD stood for Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. And unfortunately, his latest obsession was Gokudera Hayato.

Giving up, Tsuna dropped his pen and raised his hand, interrupting Fujimori-sensei, who was also their Social Studies teacher, in mid lecture.

"Yes, Sawada-kun?" said Fujimori-sensei, just barely concealing her irritation at the interruption. At the sound of their shared surname, Natsu jerked out of his light snoozing and glanced in his direction in concern.

"Can I go to the nurse's office, Fujimori-sensei? I don't feel very well.." asked Tsuna, because despite the lack of usefulness of their current nurse, he could still treat himself just fine. Either that, or he could take a nap in one of the beds.

"Of course you can. I hope you feel better" complied Fujimori-sensei, writing out a pass for him. Sighing in relief, Tsuna quickly packed his stuff away and walked out the door with Natsu's concerned gaze on his back.

* * *

_So much better _thought Tsuna in relief as he lied in one of the many comfy beds of the infirmary. A plastic bag full of ice resting on his head and dosed up with some Advil, that was thankfully finally kicking into effect, Tsuna felt rejuvenated. A couple hours in the nurse office had done some good.

"What're you doing in here?" rumbled a voice to his left, masculine and laced with amusement. "I thought I made it clear, I don't treat men."

Slowly opening his eyes, Tsuna glanced to his left. As expected, it was the new nurse. He looked a lot like Gokudera, he mused, with the same hairstyle abit with dark brown hair instead of a startling silver.

HIs eyes were the color of cocoa and his skin was a classic hawaiian tan. He wore a black dress shirt underneath a white suit, with a purple tie around his collar. He looked more like a gentleman than a nurse.

"Even if you don't treat me, I can still treat myself, Nurse-san" Tsuna mumbled, turning to his side to face the man. Burying half his face against a pillow, Tsuna was rather comfortable.

The nurse scowled,"Shamal. Doctor Shamal. Don't call me a Nurse. Do I look like a woman to you?"

Tsuna grinned cheekily,"But that's your title, Shamal-san." Shamal sent a withering glare at him, before pulling a chair over from his office desk to set on. The wheeled chair slid over with easy, and Shamal made himself comfortable.

"Didn't that bastard, Reborn warn you already?" said Shamal in disdain. His eyes flashing with a mix of good humor and a healthy dose of irritation.

"You mean, Reborn-kun?" asked Tsuna curiously. He didn't see what a baby, abit a strange one, had to do with the conversation. He wonder what the Nurse's connection with the baby was.

"Kun? He hasn't explain yet, huh?" murmured Shamal under his breath, barely audible to Tsuna's ears. "Should I tell him or not? Ah, so many tough decisions! Lazy Reborn.."

"If I'm lazy, you're perverted, Shamal" said a high-pitched voice that was over them. Sitting up, Tsuna glanced at the ceiling, just as the speaker jumped down, landing on Tsuna's forehead.

"Oh, Hi there Tsuna" greeted the smirking voice of Reborn, from atop of Tsuna's head.

"Reborn-kun!" voiced Tsuna in surprise, "You shouldn't be here, Kids that aren't students aren't allowed in school without a pass!"

"I'm the World's #1 Hitman, I don't need a pass to get into a school" said Reborn with a blank look. The only sign of a reaction to Tsuna's scoldings was the twitch of his right hand, causing the chameleon to crawl down from his fedora to his hand.

"What about school, then?" demanded Tsuna, and upon spotting the chameleon, "And pets aren't allowed either."

"I'm a hitman. I don't 'go' to school. I'm only 1 year old anyway, I'm not old enough. Leon's not a pet. He's my partner" said Reborn, his ire starting to leak in an undercurrent of his voice.

Tsuna stared blankly at him. _He's only 1! HIE! He acts more like an adult than a 1 year old! _screamed Tsuna in his mind. Wait, Adult? Tsuna frozed, and looked at Reborn in an new light. Perhaps...? Maybe...Nah, not possible.

"As amusing as it is to see you being treated like a baby, Reborn, do you have any reason to be here? Because, otherwise, I'm going to kick you out" drawled Shamal, bemused.

Reborn blinked,"Oh. Tsuna, your brother's getting into a fight." As if to support the baby's claim, the sound of yelling and the crashing of desk was heard.

Tsuna left in a blur of brown and black yelling at the top of his lungs, "SAWADA NATSUYUKI!" Both Shamal and Reborn, having jumped onto the bed as soon as he felt Tsuna move, blinked.

Shamal turned to Reborn and calmly said, "You're going to have your hands full with that one." Reborn just shook his head and pulled down his fedora to cover his face.

"I should have castrated Iemitsu when I had the chance."

* * *

When Tsuna, entered the room, it was chaos

Well, what remained of the room anyway. Desks had been thrown across the room, some having crashed against the wall. Most of the class were either cowering in the corners, behind desks, in an attempt to remain invisible but some people were loudly cheering the fighters on, instead.

Fujiwara-sensei was missing. Why? Tsuna didn't know. Then he spotted the lunches that were clutched in some of the student's hands and splattered on the floor. Tsuna eyes's widened. It was lunch time. All the teachers were currently in the main office, doing whatever teachers did during their lunch break.

The fighters themselves...Tsuna's lips curled into a grimace. Natsu's face had twisted in a mix of raging anger and hatred, his fist in mid punch. The other, Tsuna quickly identified him as the upperclassman Mochida Kensuke; resident lady's man and captain of the Namimori Kendo Club, had bought his arms up to block the punch.

Mochida Kensuke was a handsome youth, stealing more than his share of hearts. His black hair was spiky and his eyes burned with ambition. He had chosen the jacket version of the uniform, though he had discarded his jacket for the fight.

What few people knew, was Mochida's playboy activities. As of now, Tsuna knew that Mochida was currently dating Ayame-sempai, a pretty upperclassman, yet pursuing the attention of Sasagawa Kyoko at the same time.

"What is going on?" Tsuna yelled above the encouraging cheers of the precious idiotic few who did so. Almost immediately, the cheers were silenced and the fighters frozed. Some brave people poked their heads up from their hiding places, eyes wide with fear and hope.

Pushing pass the large crowd, Tsuna managed to get in between the fighters. "Well?" said Tsuna impatiently, "What got your boxers in so much of a twist that you decided to fight, huh?"

Natsu glared at Mochida, "He started it!"

"As if!" retorted Mochida, his eyes flashing, "You punched first!"

Tsuna's eyes narrowed and he said, in a voice leaking with barely controlled anger, "I don't care who punched who. I don't even care if you decided to strip down to your boxers and decide to demonstrate how gays do it. I want to know what caused you guys to think it was a good idea to pick a fight in here of all places. Have you forgotten about Hibari-san?"

Both of the boys flinched. But Mochida quickly regained his backbone. His black eyes glowing with defiance, Mochia sneered, "Why do we have to listen to you?"

Natsu was livid, "You basta-"

"Natsu. Language" reprimanded Tsuna, his eyes locked on Mochida, "And Mochida-sempai...I suggest you watch your tone."

"Or what" mocked Mochida, his eyes daring Tsuna do prove himself true. Tsuna complied.

"This" answered Tsuna, "Mizuki-kun, Mochida-sempai was the one who was hitting on your little sister last week-"

"What, you bastard Mochida!-"

"-Akusa-san, Mochida was cheating on you last year when he was your boyfriend with Torii-san-"

"You two-face cheater!-"

"-Do I need to talk to Ayame-sempai too, Mochida-sempai?" asked Tsuna with a glare. Mochida quickly shooked his head, his face white.

"So..." drawled Tsuna, tapping his feet against the floor, "Explain."

Natsu looked out the floor, scuffling his feet, "He," Natsu pointed at Mochida,"Came and confessed to Kyoko-chan," Mochida twitched and glared, "Kyoko-chan refused, and he started bothering her. I tried to stop him. He got mad. Called me a couple names than bad mouthed you. I got mad and punched him. He punched back and we knocked over a few desks fighting. End of story."

Mochida snorted, "On the contrary. I was just trying to convince Kyoko-chan of the merits of being my girlfriend, until this guy," Mochida stabbed a thumb at Natsu,"Interrupted us, rather rudely might I add. And then-"

Suddenly, a killer intent entered the shivered and turned to the source, which was by the doorway. Upon sight, some of the people fainted. Hibari Kyoya stood in the doorway, his jacket floating in the wind demonically, his eyes flashing, and his hands holding his dreadful tonfas.

"For destroying the peace of Namimori, I will bite you herbivores to death" snared Hibari. But just as was about to attack, a familiar baby interrupted him. Leaping from the ceiling, Reborn, clad in a brown suit and without his fedora, he landed on Natsu's head with a thump.

"Ciaossu. I have a better idea, Hibari. How about a dual?"

**Review, Favorite, and Follow please. Thank you for the other reviews, favorites, and follows. Update should be done by either thursday or friday.**


	5. Chapter 5: Deal of Hell

**AN****: Sorry for the lateness of the update, I got caught up in Fantasy-Magician's "Parallel axis of Sawada Tsunayoshi', it's quite good. Hope this chapter isn't too long. **

**Notes****: No one was exactly concerned, but I like to elaborate. I know Tsuna is...different from Cannon, but he was dame and bullied in it. With a twin like Natsu, I doubt anyone can hurt a single hair on his head without earning the eternal wrath of an overprotective sibling. **

**Chapter 5: Deal of Hell **

"Reborn-kun? Is that you?" asked Tsuna, confused. Natsu looked on, more curious about the mentioned 'Dual' then anything else. Mochida was the same, and the rest of the class looked on warily.

Irritation was clear in Hibari's eyes, but an hue of interest was also visible. Fujimori-sensei had the strangest expression of all. Her's was of blind worship and devotion, admiration practically bounced off her form.

"Don't be silly, Sawada-kun" admonished Fujimori-sensei,"This is Mr. Reboyama **(1)**, a famous top-class teacher, graduating from Oxford, Harvard, and Cambridge with the top degrees. He's the role model of all who hope to reach the top of the teaching world!"

Natsu sweatdropped. His usually calm, sweet sensei had burst into the flames of determination, sparkles were in her eyes, and she was punching the sky. Glancing at his twin, Tsuna's expression held a mix of shock, and doubt.

"Eh?" sputtered Tsuna, shooting glances at the famous teacher, that he was damn sure was Reborn.

"Hn. Shut up Herbivores. You, Baby. Explain. Now" growled Hibari, and instantly, silence was golden. Natsu swore up, down, left, right, and all around, that if a feather fell that second, the whole room would have heard it.

"A dual, of course" supplied Reborn, stroking one of his sideburns, "Have this guy," Reborn tugged at Natsu's hair, causing him to yelp, before pointing to Mochida, "fight this guy."

"Hn, And what will I get out of this, baby?" said Hibari with a low, amused, voice. Natsu felt a shiver go up his spine. In all of his years being on the bad side of Hibari, he had learned that if Hibari-god forbid-liked something, he better run for the hills because he was dead, better yet, murdered.

"You'll get to bite the loser to death, along with a anonymous donation of 500,000 Yen **(2)**to Namimori Middle School" bargained Reborn. Natsu's jaw dropped. How the heck was the baby going to produce that much money!

Hibari's eyes narrowed. With years of practice, and experience, Natsu knew he was considering the deal. If there one thing, the guy loved, it was Namimori Middle School.

"Up it to 1,000,000 Yen **(3)**. I want the loser herbivore to serve in my committee for a week afterwards" grunted Hibari. Natsu heard Tsuna gasped, Hibari was taking the bargain.

"Deal. You have to provide the arena, and referee the match" complied Reborn, smirking. Natsu and Mochida sputtered in disagreement.

"Hey, wait a minute! We never agreed to a dual!"

"The idiot blonde is right! We haven't agreed!"

"Deal" agreed Hibari, completely ignoring the two.

"THE HELL IT IS!" roared the two, for once in complete agreement. There was no obvious winner of the match, both of their reputation's being equally matched, and neither wanted to risk being bitten to death and serve under Hibari Kyoya for a week.

"Match is on Friday, after school. Report to the gym for the match" said Reborn, and with that finally note, he hopped off Natsu's head and disappeared out the door. Hibari followed him soon after, leaving the room in tense silence.

Natsu felt an irresistible urge to punch a hole through the wall, just to spite Hibari, and if Mochida's face was saying anything, he wanted to chop up some of the desks with a butcher knife.

Suddenly, an idea popped into existence into Natsu's mind. It must have shown on Natsu's face because Mochida raised an eyebrow at him.

"What?" asked Mochida, in which Natsu answered by discreetly jerking his thumb at Tsuna, because if there was one thing Tsuna could do, it was blackmail Hibari with all the dirt he could until Hibari had to stop the dual or risk absolute destruction of his reputation. That, or Tsuna could sell his information, and possible rat a few people out.

Unfortunately for Natsu, Tsuna beat him too it.

"Dream on, Ni-san. You're on your own this time. Perhaps you'll learn your lesson this time around."

The sound of hope being crushed was almost audible.

Hiding in the shadows, Gokudera Hayato went unnoticed, except by only a select few, as he continued to observe two certain people.

* * *

"Tsuna~" pleaded Natsu, following his younger twin's slender form as they walked home. "Please, please, please. Help your Ni-san, will you?"

"No" grounded out Tsuna with visible irritation. Natsu sighed. Looks like, Tsuna was still mad at him for the fight at school. Natsu sulked, say he has a brother complex, whatever, he really didn't like Tsuna being mad at him.

The time when he stole Tsuna's teddy bear, Kuma-chan **(4)**, when they were 6 as a joke was the worst day in his life. He never thought that Tsuna giving him the cold shoulder would be that bad. Needless to say, after a full hour of begging, Natsu did his best to not get Tsuna mad.

As they neared their house, they couldn't help but notice there was a lot of people near it. Specifically, a crowd of men in fancy, expensive suits. And they were all staring at either them or the house, itself. Tsuna stopped in his tracks, obviously unsure whether the men were a threat or not.

Natsu tensed, and pushed Tsuna behind him despite the small brunette's protests. When the men moved aside, instead of attacking as Natsu expected, Natsu relaxed slightly. He was still wary of the strange men though, so he grabbed Tsuna's hand and ran to the door.

Kicking the door open, Natsu pushed Tsuna inside before going in himself. Then he slammed the door into the men's faces, before they could try to get in, and locked the door securely. Then he did the sensible thing. He grabbed the heaviest things he could and barricade the door with them. Tsuna quickly joined him, piling up things against the doorway.

"Tsu-kun? Na-kun? What're you doing?" said a voice behind him.

The twins turned, half expecting some enemy, but was relieved to see their mother. "Ka-san, thank god you're all right" cried Tsuna in relief as he glomped Nana in a gigantic hug.

Nana giggled, "Of course, I'm alright. Why, wouldn't I be?"

"There are strange men outside, they keep staring at our house" informed Natsu, tense and wary. What was going on? Was Reborn involved? Was what the baby said true, that he was involved in the mafia?

"That would be my men" said an unfamiliar voice. Natsu, his eyes straying behind Nana, flashed with a mix of surprise and distrust. In their relief, they hadn't noticed Reborn, who was standing next to Nana, nor his companions.

One of them looked a couple years older than them, about 22 years old if Natsu had to guess. He had a head of blonde hair, like Natsu, though a different hairstyle. He had a pretty boy face and dancing brown eyes, like Bambi the deer. His skin was the same as Reborn, an italian olive.

He wore a black shirt with a white skull decorating it, underneath a tan jacket with a fur-tipped hood. A tattoo was visibly peaking out on his hand and he wore cargo pants along with riding boots underneath his pants.

Following close behind, was a older man, about 38, with salt and pepper hair. He had a pair of glasses and a black suit with a white dress shirt and black tie.

"Who are you?" said Tsuna warily, backing away from them, dragging Nana with him.

"My name is Dino, and this is Romario" said the blonde with a friendly smile, "I'm here for Reborn-"

"Reborn?" said Natsu, his attitude going through a complete 180. Smiling brightly, Natsu shook their hands with delight. "So you're here to pick him up. Thank god, we weren't sure who his family is. Don't bother thanking us, you taking him off our hands is thanks enough."

Moving with speed that Natsu had gain after years of sports, Natsu snatched a stunned Reborn off the floor,and handed him to Dino. At the same time, Tsuna, having lived years with his crazy twin, opened the door. The two then kicked them out, and promptly slammed the door in their faces.

Dino blinked, before looking at the livid infant in his hands. "Just to make it clear, I was never as bad as them" pointed out Dino helpfully. Romario and the rest of his subordinates could only nod in agreement.

* * *

Less than 3 minutes later, Reborn and co were back in the house and making themselves home drinking Nana's absolutely divine espresso after lots of shouting, a broken door, guns, rope,and a new vocabulary.

Reborn sipped his espresso and nodded at Nana in gratitude, "Delicious, Signora Nana."

Nana blushed bashfully and giggled in delight. "Oh call me Mamma. That's 'mother' in your native language, isn't it Reborn-kun?" asked Nana, with a light smile. Natsu couldn't help but wonder if his mother was just exactly right in the head. Most mother's wouldn't be reacting like nothing happen if their children were in a situation similar to his.

"It is, Mamma" agreed Reborn, taking another sip. Natsu proceeded to curse at Reborn with words that wouldn't have gotten him a thorough washing of his mouth with soap by his twin if it was audible. Not that Tsuna could, considering the circumstances, hell, Tsuna just might follow his lead. Which he did, a second later.

Reborn's eyes narrowed, and with a twitch, Leon transformed into a hammer. Without warning, the hammer connected to Natsu and Tsuna's head, silencing them.

"Watch your language" growled Reborn.

"You can hear them?" questioned Dino curiously, glancing at the twins nervously. And for good reason. The twins were currently tied back to back at the hands and their legs were covered in knots. Gags were securely in their mouths, muffling all sounds.

But despite the restraints, they could still glare. Dino swore that they were one of the most scariest glares he had ever the most unfortunate in receiving. They were just below Reborn himself. By, like a nanometer.

"Of course I can" stated Reborn in a tone that said that the question was very, very dumb. "It seems you need more training."

Dino paled, blood leaving his face, "N-No thanks. I'm perfectly fine!" If it weren't for the fact that the man had just stood and watch Reborn as he bound them together, Natsu and Tsuna would have pitied him. Maybe.

"Well, I have to go shopping now. Enjoy yourself boys!" hummed Nana as she retrieved her stuff and left with the slam of the door, not even waiting for an answer.

Putting down his coffee, Reborn regarded the twins with a critical eye, completely ignoring their death glares. Natsu muttered a few suggestions of how Reborn should die. He personally preferred the one involving the gun, pepper spray, and acid.

"Well, Now that Mamma is gone, lets get down to business" smirked Reborn, as the hammer turned back into a chameleon and climbed back on his hand. "I'm here to home tutor one of you guys into become the future Vongola Decimo, the Boss of the strongest mafia famiglia in the world, by the order of Vongola Nono. We just don't know which one of you is the better candidate yet."

A muffled snort sounded from one of the twins.

Reborn pulled out a family tree along with three pictures. Lifting the family tree up in the air so the twins could see it, Reborn explained, "Vongola Primo, after retiring, settled down here in Japan and changed his name to Sawada Ieyasu. He is your great great great grandfather through your father."

Taking the photos, Reborn said, "The other candidates have all died. Nono's eldest, Enrico was killed killed during a gunfight. The second in line, Massimo was drowned a couple weeks later. Federico, Nono's favored son, was reduced to the bones soon after. You two, Sawada 'Natsu' Natsuyuki and Sawada 'Tsuna' Tsunayoshi , are the only candidates left."

Then with a nod from Reborn, DIno removed the gag. A torrent of filth spilled out.

**(1) This is one of Reborn's disguises. I'm not sure if it's Mr. Riboyama or Mr. Reboyama, but I'm just going to go with this.**

**(2)It's exactly 5048.98 in US Dollars, but I'm rounding it to 5050.**

**(3)It's 10097.95 in US Dollars, rounded to 10100.**

**(4) Kuma mean's bear. I know, uncreative. **

**Review, Favorite, and Follow please. Thank you**.


	6. Chapter 6: Sides of an Coin

**AN****: No comment.**

**Notes: I planned on Tsuna freaking out about Enzo, his OCD kicking in, and go neatfreak trying to give Enzo a bath. You can guess how it would have turned out. Unfortunately, there wasn't enough space. **

**Chapter 6: Sides of an Coin**

The first thing Tsuna did after Dino removed the gag was to send a torrent of filth in the trio's direction. Natsu, who had planned on doing the same, stopped short and choked on the profanity that was rolling off his supposedly 'innocent' twin's tongue with.

Dino had flushed a dark red at the rather...interesting things that were erupting from Tsuna's mouth and Reborn nearly dropped his coffee, his eyes almost noticeably wide. Romario had long since fainted.

Tsuna really didn't care as he cursed Reborn's sexlife, Dino's sexlife, questioned their sexuality, accused them of pedophilia, and a lot of other stuff that was certainly not PG-13. And judging by Dino's face, it wasn't even NC-17 either.

When Tsuna was finally done, his face was red and he was out of breath. Reborn sipped his coffee, the only sign of Tsuna's barrage disturbing him was the fact that his fedora was pulled over his eyes.

"You sure know a lot of curses" commented Reborn as Dino chuckled nervously.

Tsuna glared, "You'll be surprise of how much teenagers curse when they've just been humiliated, blackmailed, dumped, and kicked in where the sun doesn't shine. That, and Ka-san has quite a vocabulary when drunk. Natsu isn't much better even when sober."

"Hey!" protested Natsu, turning awkwardly to his twin, "I'm not that bad!"

"Oh?" said Tsuna sarcastically, "Who was it that said, and I quote 'That fucking son of bitc-"

"Okay, okay. Just shut up!" cried Natsu, his face flushing a light red. Tsuna snorted before glaring at an amused looking Reborn and flustered Dino. Following Tsuna's gaze, Natsu's face turned serious.

"We're not joining the mafia" stated Natsu, his eyes burning with resolve. Reborn merely sipped his coffee while Dino looked sympathetic. It made Tsuna uneasy.

"I'm afraid you don't have a choice" said Dino in a supportive, somewhat comforting tone. "The mafia is mafia for a reason. As long as you live, the blood that flows in your veins will caused you to be hunted by assassins to the day you die. No mafia boss will allow potential usurpers to live, not even the kindest one. The only way to survive is to reach the top and become the threat they think you are."

Tsuna's eyes were shadowed as the damning words flew off the blonde's tongue. Anger boiled his blood, but fear held him back. With his own personal abilities and experience, he could see that every word that the man said was true, that if they didn't accept and adapt they would spend the rest of their life looking over their back for some assassin to slide a knife through their ribs.

It was quite frightening to think about. To spend the rest of one's days thinking that it might be the last day of their life, to spend their mockery of a life on the run. From a human reduced to being prey, a mere animal.

During certain days, Tsuna had seen glimpse of a life on the run from the residents of Namimori, for the quaint little town was just a little more than a town. Every resident in Namimori had skeletons in the closet. It hadn't just been bad luck to have the infamous Hibari family to be present and controlling Namimori.

Tsuna had learned the hard way, that some things, you really didn't want to know and that Ignorance was bliss. Mostly because he still couldn't look at Yamamoto Tsuyoshi in the exact same way as he did before. Who knew that Yamamoto Tsuyoshi was a former apprentice of a contract killer that had gone on and commit mass homicide to avenge his master's death?

The only relief that Tsuna had was that the sushi chef had dropped his sword after a rather foolish assassin killed Mrs. Yamamoto, well after he dealt with his wife's murderer of course.

Fear must have shown through on his face, because Dino ruffled his hair in an attempt of comfort and Natsu squeezed his hand in assurance.

"Can you explain the mafia thing again, Reborn-kun?" said Tsuna softly, his eyes flashing amber. Tsuna felt Natsu tense against his back, and his grip on his hand tighten slightly. It was obvious to Tsuna that his twin was not happy about the mafia thing. Neither was he at that matter.

He quietly promised to himself that he would thoroughly prank his drunk, no good, ass of a father when he finally came back. It was obvious just which side of the family they had inherited the mafia from.

Reborn tilted his head curiously before nodding. "As I said before, You and twin are possible candidates to become the Tenth Generation Boss of the Vongola Famiglia, or Vongola Decimo for short. Vongola Nono, or the Ninth Generation Boss, sent me to tutor you two, and determine which one of you will receive the position."

"Wait, What will happen to the one that doesn't get picked?" questioned Natsu, his eyes narrowing on the last part. Tsuna was uneasy, he could see the question and fear on his twin's face. They both knew the mafia was ruthless, and add that too what Dino said earlier about the treatment of 'usurpers'...

"...He will be eliminated" said Reborn, his eyes shadowed. Dino's hand slid to his pant pocket, as if he was reaching for something, but stopped himself sharply. Tsuna's eyes flickered over to the pocket, what was in there? A weapon?

"Eliminated.." parroted Tsuna, his voice dull. "Definition. To remove or get rid of. Alternative definition. To eradicate or kill."

Staring at the floor of the kitchen, Tsuna knew who would most likely to be picked. Natsu had always been the stronger of the two while Tsuna had been the smarter one. The neighbors had always joked that the twins were one person, that Natsu was the body while he was the mind.

The mafia was dangerous. Intelligence was important, but it would be useless if you died before you could think. Though Natsu wasn't as smart as Tsuna, he still had brains, and it would be good enough for him to get out of any tough situation. Out of the two, Tsuna could firmly say that Natsu had the most chance of getting picked. He was going to die.

Natsu had came to the same conclusion, because his hold on his hand became a death grip. "No way" growled Natsu, his voice dark and dangerous with his hair blocking his eyes, "If you're going to drag us into the death pit, you might as well drag us both."

Reborn's eyes darkened while Dino sputtered. "Have you listened to anything I've told you" demanded Dino, "No mafia boss will allow potential usurpers to live. Even if you two trust each other, the mafia won't except it. You'll be pushed to killing each other off or your famiglia will have differing loyalties loyalties that will eventually lead to a coup d'etat.

"There's a reason no famiglia shares the boss position with more than one person or any other candidates. How do you think the other candidates died. By accident? Those three were brothers just like you before they went and killed each other off!"

"Then we'll be the first" snared Natsu, his eyes burning amber with determination. "I'll stay by my brother's side even in death!"

"And so will I" promised Tsuna, working up the courage to defy the two. "We'll survive together, no matter what."

Dino looked like he was ready to argue but just sighed and sat down on a wooden chair, before putting a hand on his forehead. "Those two are either going to destroy Vongola from inside out or make it stronger than ever" groaned Dino, with a contradicting smile.

Reborn grunted in agreement, Leon perking up on his fedora.

"Vongola..you mentioned it a lot. Just what sort of mafia famiglia is Vongola?" asked Tsuna curiously, fishing for information.

"The best" said Reborn with pride and respect, "It's the strongest famiglia in the world, with it's influence being worldwide. It's wealth is renowned and it has technology that surpasses even the best that the world superpowers have to offer. It has the largest network of allies ever, some of which is my no good student over there, Dino. Dino is the boss of the Chiavarone, which is the third powerfulest ally Vongola has. By the way Dino, you might want to untie those ropes, now."

Tsuna and Natsu blinked in astonishment. The blonde didn't look like a mafia boss, much less one of the most powerful. Grinning, Dino knelt down next to them and untied the ropes with a quick twist. Rubbing their sore wrists, still sitting back to back on the floor, they peered curiously at Dino.

"You don't look like a mafia boss" commented Natsu. Tsuna agreed.

Dino chuckled. "Blame Reborn" said Dino, "I didn't want to be a mafia boss either. Next thing, I know, this spartan tutor", Dino waved his hand at Reborn,"is at my mansion and chasing me with grenade launchers and giant hammers in the guise of training."

Reborn raised an eyebrow as Leon transformed into a giant hammer, and said, "It turned you into a decent boss didn't it. Now you only trip over thin air and make a mess when your subordinates aren't with you." And with that note, Reborn slammed the hammer on Dino's head, making Dino produced a Dino-shape hole in the Sawada's kitchen floor.

Natsu tensed. It was a commonly known factor that Tsuna had OCD. People just didn't know how 'overestuastic' Tsuna became when they triggered it. Unfortunately, for their guest, a mess was one of them.

"There's a hole in the floor" said Tsuna, twitching slightly. Natsu moved away from his twin. While Tsuna was usually quite sweet, he was terrifying when mad. Just look at the giant black aura and those insane orange eyes.

Dino looked up from his position on the floor while Reborn watched the livid brunette carefully. Suddenly something crawled from Dino's pocket before plopping onto the floor loudly.

Blinking, Tsuna snapped out of it, drawing a sigh of relief from Natsu that his beloved, innocent, sweet, but neatfreak twin was no longer emitting the make-a-mess-and-I'll-stuff-your-hands-up-your-ass aura before looking at the cause of the loud noise.

"Turtle?..." said Natsu in disbelief. Sure enough, on the floor of the kitchen was a snapping turtle so small that it could fit in the palm of Tsuna's palm.

"That's Enzo" explained Dino. "He's Leon's kid."

"Leon...?" the twins echoed before looking at the chameleon who was innocently licking his paw.

"..."

"I know" laughed Dino, "He doesn't look like he's a mom, much less Enzo's."

"It's insane. A chameleon mom having a turtle son that's two times bigger than it" stated Natsu, kneeling at his heels in front of the small turtle,"Even weirder is that it can change into a hammer and gun."

"Reborn practically brings insanity. Leon can also transform into a rocket launcher, umbrella, grenade, bazooka, magnifying glass, cellphone, parachute, goggles, slipper, jutte-"

"..."

"Turbo car, ninja shuriken, divining rod, totem pole, tennis racket, rice cooker, fish, instruments, fork, saw, handcuffs, helicopter, rope, mask, serpent ball, and-"

"WE GET IT! Sheesh, it sounds horrible."

"It is" smiled Dino, much to the twins's disbelief, "So if you need a drop of sanity call me in, and I'll help. I have over 23 therapists that can help!"

"23?" gaped Tsuna.

Dino shrugged nonchalantly, "It's hard to get over the trauma of Reborn's abuse. You'll be subject to it soon enough."

Tsuna scratched his head, and sighed, "I guess you're our sempai than, Dino-san.."

The blonde man pouted, "No san! It makes me sound old...I'm only 22. Call me Dino-ni!"

"Oi! The only one, Tsuna's calling Ni-san is me you old man!" snared Natsu, hands on his hips. Tsuna rolled his eyes, Natsu's brother complex was kicking in. The first time it had appeared, Tsuna had admittedly been freaked out, as Natsu at that time had judo throwed one of his friends that had admittedly gotten a little too close. But by now, he was merely amused and annoyed.

"Natsu.." grumbled Tsuna as the two started a no doubt stupid argument, before turning his attention to the hole in the floor.

**Review, Favorite, and Follow Please. Thx for everything last chapter, fellow readers.**


	7. Chapter 7: Promise of Protection

**AN****: First I like to apologize for the later than usual update. I was trying to write the next chapter of 'Butterfly with Invisible Wings', but...I ended up stuck with writer's block on that story. So to people who read that story, I'm afraid it's going to be awhile before I update that one. On the other hand, I'm focusing all my attention on this one~!**

**Notes****: I noticed in most fanfics I've read and in canon, People don't really focus on how lethal the mafia is, so I mentioned some of the dangers.**

**Chapter 7: Promise of Protection**

The water was warm as it washed over his hands. Scrubbing the plate with practiced ease, Tsuna dried it not a second later and put it on the rack. He repeated the process carefully with the next piece.

Natsu stood by the doorway, half hidden in the shadows, and as quiet as a mouse. He watched Tsuna quietly, noting the nearly unnoticeable trembling of his younger twin's frame. It was only the fact that he had spent his entire life with the boy that he was able to pick out Tsuna's fear.

He had been scared earlier, Reborn and his blonde companion had even noticed, but Tsuna had brushed it off later as if it didn't bother him. Natsu was no stranger to Tsuna's fear. He was scared too, of the dark world that Reborn had given him a glimpse to.

It was all in the strange infant's casual actions. The lack of awe when his pet chameleon shapeshifting, something that wasn't even possible. Natsu wondered, how easily would it be for Leon to shapeshift into a nuclear bomb and just wipe the world out? How easy would it be?

It was also in the infant's habit with his trigger-happy fingers. The gun had fitted in his tiny fingers like it was a toy. The gunshot earlier, it had merely grazed him yet it had shed blood. He had no doubt that Reborn could shoot him if the baby wished. He could die with a twitch of a finger from the infant, Tsuna could die.

The destruction of the floor was another. The baby had tore a hole in the floor with his own former student, and hadn't been even remotely concerned. Could the baby tear down a skyscraper if he wanted too, without even a care for the doomed people in it?

It honestly scared Natsu, just as it scared Tsuna. Dino was no pushover too. That turtle, when Tsuna gotten a good sniff at it, had grown twice as large as them when Tsuna had rushed it to the bathroom to give it a cleaning. The bathroom had been obliterated, but thankfully, Dino had agreed to payed for the repairs, along with the hole from earlier.

Natsu had no doubt it could crushed them. It could break their bones, and tear their flesh with that mouth. It could kill them easily enough. The only relief on Natsu's conscious was that it would only become a threat when it was in contact with water.

The whip was bad too. Natsu had two reactions to the whip. The first, and somewhat more lighter one, was that the blonde had a really bad whip kink and was a wannabe cowboy. The more serious reaction was fear, because what if the guy decided humans could be whipped into shape like horses?

"Natsu..?" said a slightly trembling voice. Natsu frozed and glanced at Tsuna. It was often that Tsuna called him Natsu. But when he did, it was usually because he was either very upset, or very happy.

"Yeah?" he said quietly, moving closer to the shaking brunette. Tsuna had stopped in the middle of cleaning the dishes, and his hands were wet with soap and water. He had ditched his vest somewhere during dinner and had rolled up his sleeves to his elbows.

"Do...do you think I'm still going to be alive by next week?" asked Tsuna. Natsu frozed, right behind Tsuna. He couldn't see his twin's face but he could detect the rampaging fear in Tsuna's voice. He was serious, realized Natsu, he didn't know if he would be alive by then, he was scared that he would be dead, murdered by then.

He knew exactly what Tsuna was thinking. It had not slipped past them that neither Dino nor Reborn had truly accepted their goal of ruling as twin bosses. Natsu could bet that if by the time hit zero and neither had given up on their goal, one of them would be found dead sooner or later.

He also knew, that out of the two of them, Tsuna had the least chance of being chosen. Oh he knew that Tsuna could hold his own, blackmailing could go a long way. The parkour he learned in the brief time he had been bullied before Natsu had found out would also be helpful.

But in a full out fight, Natsu would win. Years in all sorts of sports and fistfights with his peers had toughened him up. His brain wasn't useless either, though not anywhere near Tsuna's. But that didn't mean he'll go along and let them kill his brother.

"Yes" growled Natsu with conviction, "You're going to be alive. I'm not going to let you die. If they want to kill you, they'll have to do it over my dead body. I won't allow it."

"But will they care if you don't allow it?" said Tsuna with a hysterically note, turning around to face his brother. His eyes were brimming with unshed tears and he looked small, nothing like the sweet, but brave twin he knew. "They can kill us, Natsu. They can do it without trying. We don't stand a chance as we are now."

"Then I'll become stronger" said Natsu, eyes the color of amber, pulling his twin in a hug, pressing their foreheads together like when they were little. "I'll become strong enough to protect you."

"We'll" corrected Tsuna quietly after a brief span of silence, raising his head to meet Natsu's amber eyes, his own eyes blazing amber with a hidden fire. "We'll become stronger because who else is going to save your ass?"

Natsu smiled, seeing the fire rekindled in his twin's eyes. Pulling back from the hug reluctantly, Tsuna turned back to the sink and started on his chore once again, with Natsu's comforting presence behind him.

"I'll protect you" said Natsu suddenly, after a couple minutes of silence. "I promise."

Tsuna didn't stop washing, but merely replied, "Don't make promises you aren't sure you can keep."

Because both of them knew, it would take time to grow stronger, much less stronger than the strange hitman tutor and the mafia boss in the room next door. There was no guarantee they could survive until then.

"I'll promise, anyway" said Natsu. Tsuna stopped, and put the plate he was in the middle of washing down.

Turning halfway to his stubborn twin, Tsuna met his eyes and smiled a small smile, "Then the promise is wrong. Its 'We'll protect each other' because if you think I'll let you do everything yourself, you need to get your head checked out."

Natsu returned the grin, because he damn knew what his twin was trying to say. _We're getting out of this alive, together _was unspoken but clear.

* * *

Meanwhile, in the next room over, Reborn sat facing his old student in silence as they listened quietly to the conversation next door.

As the conversation ended, Reborn hummed and shot a glance at Dino, whose eyes were glazed in thought. Romario had ran off somewhere, along with the rest of his subordinates, a couple hours ago, to book a hotel for everyone, besides Dino who was staying at the Sawada Household for the night.

It was only the realistic looking mask of Romario and Reborn's presence that had made him coordinated enough not to make a mess, and thus not recreate another similar incident of the Water+Enzo incident earlier.

"What do you think of those two?" asked Reborn, because as clumsy and no good his former student was without his subordinates, Dino, like most skies, was a ridiculously good judge of character.

Dino hummed, "As a brother or as a mafia boss?"

"Both" answered Reborn, shortly.

Dino sighed and leaned back in his chair. "As a big brother, I'll say they've got potential. They can change the mafia, cause a revolution for the good. Bring Vongola back to it's former glory and all that stuff. As a mafia boss...I think they're ideals are idiotic. The mafia is like a world of apex predators. Everyone wants to reach the top, rivals aren't tolerated. Their 'twin boss' idea will get them killed" said Dino, staring up the ceiling.

"But do you think, there is a chance it could work?" questioned Reborn, his fedora causing a shadow to go over his eyes as he leaned forward in anticipation.

Dino's eyes glazed over for a minute, before he said "Yes. I think there is a chance."

Reborn nodded, his satisfaction received, "Then we will take that chance."

Dino fell over, head first, at that. "Wait, what!?" screeched Dino from his position on the floor, flat on his back.

Reborn completely ignored him. Instead, he jumped off his chair, which had a giant stack of cushions on it just so he could eat, and landed without a problem. Leaving his former student sputtering in the dining room, Reborn walked into the kitchen upon the sight of his new students helping each other do the dishes.

"Oi, When's Mamma going to be home?" asked Reborn, jumping onto Natsu's shoulder, giving his new student a momentary shock. Natsu shot an irritated glance at the baby before replying.

"Ka-san called earlier. Apparently she met some old friend of hers and is going to stay there for the night. She's going to be back by morning" said Natsu, as he dried the dishes.

"Got it. Good cooking by the way, Tsuna. Wake up at 5 AM tomorrow, we're going training. And Natsu, remember your dual" called Reborn over his shoulder as he left the room.

"Arigato!" said Tsuna.

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever-WAIT! Dual?! I completely forgot! GET BACK HERE, REBORN! YOU'RE DEAD MEAT!"

* * *

"You sleep together?" questioned Reborn in disbelief from Dino's shoulder, "Aren't you too old by now?"

"Y-Yeah" sweatdropped Dino.

Natsu shrugged as he wrestled a extra futon from the closet, dressed in his pajamas, a white tank top and grey shorts. Tsuna entered the room, holding pillows and some bed sheets, dressed.

"We got used to it" said Natsu, as if it was completely normal. Reborn shook his head but dropped the topic. After a couple minutes of a rather frustrating tug of war against the closet, Natsu finally managed to get the futon out, before giving the closet a good kick of course.

"You'll be sleeping here for the night" addressed Tsuna as he laid out the bed sheets. "Ka-san's room is locked, no one sleeps there except her and our no-good, idiotic, insufferable, drunk-on-his-ass father."

Dino and Reborn nodded before quickly changing into pajamas in the twin's private bathroom. Natsu and Tsuna could not help but snicker when they saw Reborn's pink and white polka-dot footie pajamas and matching hat that looked like the one from Santa.

Dino on the other hand, was wearing button up green pajama tops and bottoms decorated with horses.

Muffling another snigger as Reborn and Dino got on the futon, Tsuna crossed the room to close the lights. Finished, Tsuna walked through the dark with years of practice and got into his and Natsu's shared bed. Snuggling in the bedsheets, Tsuna fell fast asleep, with Natsu just across from him.

**Favorite, Follow, and Review please. Thank you!**


	8. Chapter 8: Stretching Bonds

**AN****: I'm thinking I should get a beta. Should I? or is the story readable and I don't need a beta?**

**Note****: Yamamoto and Ryohei are a little OOC. I'm pretty damn sure Ryohei does not know the word 'vigilant'. Also, just to make it clear, Natsu knows Ryohei because both are sports-addict.**

**Chapter 8: Stretching Bonds**

Tsuna woke to electricity. Not an alarm clock, but real, untamed, crackling electricity from a defibrillator. Needless to say, Tsuna was not a happy camper. Twitching slightly from excess static electricity, Tsuna groaned in pain as Natsu surged up besides him, having been shocked by electricity too, before collapsing on his back a second later.

Shuddering, Tsuna attempted to sit up, but failed horribly, the electricity having numbed some of his nerves causing him to not even be able to sit up. Mustering the strength to open his eyes, Tsuna blinked tiredly at the pale orange ceiling of his shared room. Next to him, Natsu released a pain filled groan.

_Where had the electricity come from? _wondered Tsuna duly, still half-asleep. The last thing he had remembered before the painfully flash of harnessed lightning was the flicker of the warmth of blankets, The fragments of a dream (fireworks was it? But so much smoke...), and the comforting presence of his twin, curled protectively next to him.

"Are you up now, Dame-Twins?" asked a squeaky voice right of him.

Sighing, Tsuna groggily turned onto his side to face the speaker. Reborn, prim and proper in his tailored suit, stared at him, unimpressed. "Reborn-kun..." grumbled Tsuna sleepily, peeking through his chocolate colored bangs at the alarm clock on the chair of his right. "It's 5 o'clock in the morning, it''s too early..."

"Better yet, What's with the defibrillator?" snapped Natsu, irritably, raising his head enough to be visible over Tsuna's shoulder, even as he yawned mid-sentenced. "Is it even legal?"

"I'm a hitman. I break laws daily" said Reborn with a tone that plainly said that Natsu had just asked a very, very stupid question. Tsuna was inclined to agree with him.

Tsuna muffled a snicker before noticing that the futon Natsu had pulled out of the closet for Reborn and Dino had been folded and tucked into a corner. Dino was missing.

"Where's Dino-ni, Reborn?" asked Tsuna, ignoring Natsu's sulking at the added honorific, the blonde still hadn't exactly gotten over not being the only older brother figure for Tsuna, nevermind Dino was supposed to be his older brother too.

"Don't know, that idiot was gone by the time I woke up. Left a note over there for you though" said Reborn pointing to the piece of paper on the bedstand, "Now get up. We got training to do, if you aren't downstairs in 10 minutes, I'm doubling it."

Sighing as Reborn left, Tsuna sat up and grabbed the folded piece of partment before quickly opening it up. Skimming over the text, Tsuna read it out loud:

_Ohayo, Natsu and Tsuna_

_I'll be leaving for a couple days to check on my famiglia in Italy, but I'll be back in around 2 weeks. Until then, good luck on Reborn's training. Don't die. - Dino_

Natsu blinked, "What does he mean by 'Don't die'? It's not that bad is it?"

Tsuna shrugged and forced himself to his feet. Natsu stared at him, "You aren't seriously listening to him and going downstairs, are you?"

Tsuna's locked his cocoa colored eyes onto Natsu's, raising a single eyebrow at his twin, "I for one, thinks this could benefit us. Maybe you can even land a hit on Mochida-sempai or even Hibari-san after this."

Snorting slightly as Natsu paled at the reminder of his upcoming duel with the kendo captain, Tsuna grabbed some exercising clothes and stalk into the bathroom, claiming it before Natsu could snap out of it.

Natsu was a bathroom hog if anything, and Tsuna really didn't want to deal with him now, especially with his inner body clock out of it's loop. OCD was a bitch sometimes.

* * *

Tsuna turned his back on his former opinion about Reborn's training exactly 12 minutes and 52 seconds later. Reborn's training was far worse than mixing Natsu with cooking. Which was very, very bad since Natsu's record currently consisted of 5 lawn fires, the destruction of 13 sets of pots and pans (Tsuna still didn't know how in the world Natsu managed to melt metal), accidental creation of radioactive or poisoned food, or in one case, the burning of their house and the burning of water of all things.

"I take it back! I take it back!" screeched Tsuna as he jumped over a fence and climb a fire escape like a monkey in a desperate attempt to clear the smoke of a massive grenade. Below him, a couple yards away, Natsu was ducking and dodging the hurtled bullets with some strain but managing, having practice from dodge ball.

Climbing onto the rails of the escape, Tsuna vaulted off it to the concrete sidewalk 5 meters below, just in time to avoid a grenade, which promptly blew a hole in the fire escape.

His breaths fast and shallow, Tsuna's cheeks were flushed a light red, unused to much exercise. His thighs burned and his arms ached. His hands were raw and red from grabbing rough materials and the muscles he didn't even know he had were strained.

His grey sweatpants were torn at the edges and covered in dirt. His white shirt with two parallel vertical black stripes was decent, having been protected by a green sweater with a fur hood , which was obviously battered. His tennis shoes were covered in dust but otherwise, he seemed fine.

Natsu was much better, observed Tsuna enviously. Being a sports-addict had payed off, and Natsu was keeping up with Reborn with some hard work, unlike Tsuna who was keeping up with Reborn on the skin of his teeth.

Natsu was clad in a sleeveless red shirt with the words 'Gangstaz' in a crimson slanted oval and a pair of black sweats that had some dirt on the edges. His shoes were sneakers and wristbands laid on his wrists.

Tsuna released another unholy shriek as Reborn shot another volley of bullets at him, distracting him from his observations, but managed to flip himself behind a dumpster. At the same time, Natsu grabbed a fallen branch from the ground and tried to hit an incoming grenade with it like a baseball bat.

Unfortunately for Natsu, the grenade exploded on contact with the tree branch, and sent Natsu flat on his back, earning more than one bruise. Hissing in pain, Natsu leaped to his feet, and ran when he spotted the bazooka, Reborn was loading.

"Fuck, How the hell does Dino deal with this!?" cursed Natsu under his breath as he dodged behind an alley, thinking of the missing blonde. Thought the note said he needed to check on his own Famiglia, both of the Sawada Twins were pretty sure it was because Dino wanted to avoid Reborn's wake-up call and training.

Not that they could blame him, they would have done it to in his shoes. But a warning would have been appreciated. Like a god.

Growling, Natsu shot out of the alley the moment the streets were clear of smoke, not wanting to risk being trapped in the alley. Tsuna, on the other hand, jumped onto the dumpster he had been hiding behind to avoid yet another grenade, and leaped onto the sidewalks.

Panting, Tsuna ran across the streets and darted behind a corner. God, thought Tsuna as another resounding blast of a grenade echoed in his ears, how in the world the neighbors still sleeping and not freaking out? Huffing, Tsuna braced himself to run, and promptly bumped into a rather familiar person.

"Tsuna?"

"Yamamoto!" cried Tsuna in surprise, and was about to greet him when the sound of gunshots reminded him of the situation he was currently in. With wide eyes, Tsuna grabbed Yamamoto's hand and ran.

"Wah-Tsuna!" yelled Yamamoto as the small brunette dragged him with surprising strength to safety.

"No time! Talk later" yelled Tsuna as he shoved Yamamoto behind a store. "Hide for now. Go home as soon as it's safe!"

With that, Tsuna ran off, leaving Yamamoto dumbfounded. "What in the world is going on?" muttered Yamamoto in confusion as he watched his dear friend's fading form and listened to the sharp explosions and gunshots.

Meanwhile, Streets away, Natsu was in a similar situation as his younger twin. The difference was that he had encountered the 'extreme' silver haired captain of the Namimori Boxing Club, Sasagawa Ryohei. Also known as the super duper overprotective older brother of one Sasagawa Kyoko.

"EXTREME! TO BE SO VIGILANT TO BE TRAINING AT THIS HOUR, YOU MUST JOIN MY BOXING CLUB!" roared the captain, as Natsu struggled to bring the silver haired boy to safety.

"Er, Look Sasagawa-sempai, I'm busy right now. I'll talk to you later, Stay here and hide for now" said Natsu nervously, darting glances behind him for his tyrant of a tutor. "I'll see you at school!"

Without waiting for a reply, the blonde haired boy shot off, alerted by the sound of gunshots.

"EXTREME! I NEED HIM IN MY BOXING CLUB!"

* * *

The classroom was silent. Like dead silent in which you can drop a pin and here it. The reason? Well...

"Tsuna? Natsu?" asked Yamamoto cautiously, looking at his rather beat up looking friends. He was rather worried, the class was worried, the teacher was worried, even Hibari Kyoya, the resident human icecube, was worried.

Natsu whimpered something, his face connected to his desk while Tsuna twitched from his position, his head in his arms. Yamamoto felt a bead of sweat roll down the side of his face as he stood over his exhausted friends.

The morning incident with Tsuna was strange enough, and the fact that the infamously energetic twins looked like they had been runned over by a bulldozer, spat out into acid, and then digested and spat out, wasn't really helping much for Yamamoto's confusion and concern.

Finally after a torturous silence, Natsu raised as he head, his face lined with exhaustion. "What?" asked Natsu tiredly, his mind scrambling for a coherent thought, which slip through his mental hold like water.

"Are you guys okay?" questioned Yamamoto eyeing a bruise on Natsu's cheek.

Natsu grimaced and was about to answer when a softer voice answered Yamamoto. "No" whispered Tsuna, not even bothering to move from his position, "We've just had bombs, grenades, bullets, heck a fence, thrown at us and been chased around town for 2 hours straight. Of course we're not okay!"

Yamamoto blinked, and came to an conclusion. "So you guys were playing a game?"

**Review, Favorite, and Follow please. I'm so happy! **


	9. Chapter 9: Calm before the Storm

**AN****: IMPORTANT! I'm grounded right now, meaning limited computer access. Blame my grandma for it, she basically spouted lies and exaggerations to my mom and now I have basically about 6 hours of computer when I usually have like 11-12 hours (I know, bad for health, whatever). Add that to my own studying for 8th grade, summer homework, my own life, I have little time to write it up. Just for this chapter, I spent over 3 hours on this, which is just about 1800 words when it's usually 2100. So prepare for the updates to be slower.**

**Notes****: Nothing important, Tsuna is OOC but he's in informat mode. Thumbs up for anyone who got the hint about hyper intuition in this chapter.**

**Chapter 9: Calm before the Storm**

"Ni-san! Wake up!" called a familiar voice from the heavens as he laid peacefully on the meadow grass. Natsu grumbled but didn't open his eyes, the sun's warm rays reached down from the clear sky above to touch his skin, leaving trails of heat, and the scent of wildflowers danced in the wind, playful and free, leading him away from the voice.

With his head resting in his arms, Natsu was at peace. Nothing seemed like it could go wrong, in the small paradise. In a invisible corner of his mind, suspicious thought nagged him. Questions of where the place was, how he got there, but not one convinced him to rise in restlessness.

A cold hand touch his cheek while a shadow blocked the sun from reaching him. _Warmth, where was the warmth? _Natsu wondered drowsily. _Go away _he thought, irritated, _You're cold_. And it was. With the presence came a chill and the feeling of something dark, like a barely contained storm.

"Kufufu...So you are my target" the shadow whispered, the hand still on his cheek, freezing cold, despite Natsu's protests.

The shadow hummed, "Maybe I should take care of you right now? Though dead bodies are an inconvenience~"

Natsu's face twisted into a frown, his eyes still closed. Dead body? What was the shadow talking about? Curious, Natsu lazily started opening his mind, even as the hand left his cheek to travel down his throat.

His eyes were only half-open and still rather fuzzy when the hand tightened around his throat. The reaction was inevitable. Natsu choked, the air was gone he thought in panic. He couldn't breath. Struggling weakly against the shadow's hold, still rather sleepy, Natsu's eyes managed to catch the image of an red eye, with the kanji for six right where the pupil should be before the world went dark.

"Ni-san!"

SLAM!

Jerking up, Natsu's eyes snapped open as he gasped for air, like it was his lifeline, which it was. Surveying the area, Natsu eyes soon connected to an annoyed looking Tsuna, clutching a rather thick notebook in his hands, Natsu vaguely realized that Tsuna had used it to wake him up.

Not only that, but they were in an classroom, an empty one, not a meadow. Yawning, Natsu reached an hand up to rub his eyes, coming to the conclusion that it had been a dream, a rather disturbing dream.

"Finally!" huffed Tsuna, standing over Natsu who was sitting at his desk. "How long were you going to sleep? By the way, Fujimori-sensei says you have detention with her on Monday. Serves you right for sleeping through class!"

"Sorry" said Natsu sheepishly as he grabbed his book bag and slung it over his shoulder. "What time is it?"

Tsuna rolled his eyes at his twin and said,"Well you're going to be late for the duel if you don't hurry up for one."

Natsu's eyes widened. "Tsuna~! Why didn't you wake me up" wailed Natsu as he dragged us twin out of the classroom and down the stairs.

"I tried!" protested Tsuna as he tried his best to not trip as his twin pulled him down the stairs. "But you wouldn't wake up! You slept like a rock! If a hurricane came rolling by you wouldn't have noticed!"

"I'm not that bad" pouted Natsu as he kicked open the front doors of Namimori Middle School.

"Yes you are" snapped Tsuna, before hesitating and asking, "What were you dreaming about anyway?"

"Hmm?" questioned Natsu in confusion as they ran to the gym in which the dual was taking place, "I don't remember much, but I know it started turning bad near the end. Why?"

Tsuna nodded in relief before stating quietly, "Dunno how to explain properly, but you felt weird near the end."

Natsu blinked in confusion, before deciding to ignore it in favor of the dual. He pushed the green metal doors of the gym open, and ran inside, inconsequently dragging Tsuna too.

The first thing Natsu saw was people. A lot of people. Tsuna tug his sleeve before spilling information a mile a minute, surveying the entire gymnasium at the same time. The people near them tried to subtly eavesdrop, though failing horribly, as Tsuna had absolutely good judgement regarding competitions, and they really wanted to win the bets.

"You got a lot of people here for the dual" started Tsuna, "Sasagawa-chan's next to Kurokawa-san near the referee, he's Mochida-sempai's vice-captain. Better watch out, Mochida-sempai might have bought him off. Not that it's going to do much, Hibari-san, who's in that corner by the way, and Reborn, who's hiding on one of those high windows near the roof, are the unofficial referees anyway."

"Sasagawa-chan's brother, an upperclassman, is over there too. Heard he's the boxing captain, a genius in that area, he's been scout but stayed here for his sis. Have you met him yet?-"

"Yeah, during Reborn's training. He's rather...extreme" mumbled Natsu as he watched his brother completely ignore him and continuing babbling information. At the corner of his eye, he saw Mochida talking to one of his club members, he hadn't noticed Natsu's arrival yet, amongst the crowd and the arriving people.

"-Yamamoto is next to him, hasn't seen us yet. Gokudera-san is also in a corner, looks grumpy, don't bother him. Mochida-sensei is talking to one of the club members, Ryuuji Akihiko. Ryuuji-san is in charge of the equipment for the match. Be careful, Ryuuji-san might give you a defective one."

"You think they're seriously going to try? Hibari's right there" asked Natsu in disbelief.

Tsuna shrugged, "Maybe. It's reputation at stake after all. You're on pretty much equal standing to him. The loser will never climb the social ladder with a defeat like this. A little desperate of him to cheat, but he'll get some points if he's caught, depending on how he turns it of course, on bravery and vigilante ideal and what not, but it'll also hurt him."

"Oh" said Natsu blankly, confused but not really wanting to no.

Tsuna looked him in the eye, "You don't have an idea what I just said, do you?"

"Eh...yes?" sweated Natsu.

Tsuna huffed, but didn't point him out. "Either way, be careful. A lot is on this one dual. Whatever you do, don't underestimate him. He's not the Captain of the Kendo club for nothing. He's a literal prodigy at this, it's his turf. Put Reborn's training into use."

"Got it!" saluted Natsu, "What's the chance I'll win?"

"...You really wanna know? Really?"

"...On second thought, No."

"Smart boy."

* * *

"Oi! Where the hell is that bastard!" roared Mochida, decked out in his kendo gear, "Did he ditch the duel, that coward?!"

Natsu twitched, and a large murderous aura surrounded him. As Tsuna subtle backed away, handing him a handball, Natsu started muttering under his breath, "...Call me a coward,huh, want to die, don't YOU!"

With that final declaration, Natsu threw the offered hand ball with deadly accuracy at the spiky haired kendo captain. In the background, Tsuna helpfully declared, "In accuracy in sports, Ni-san's second only to Yamamoto, and that is still debateable."

"Where the fuck is he-" SPLAT. The ball connected to his cheek.

There was silence until Natsu, with glaring amber eyes and murderous aura, shouted, "Call me a coward, you bastard?! Get your eyes fucking checked you Baka! I've been here for five minutes already you, blind bat!"

With equal anger, Mochida was prepared to yell back, even as the hand ball fell to the ground leaving a red spot on his cheek, but one sentence from an aloof skylark shut him up.

"I'll bite you all to death if you don't shut up, herbivores."

Needless to say, the two shut their mouths even as they glared at each other with rising hate. The unfortunate kendo club members staffed to hand out the equipment for the match, trembled like a leaf in the wind, and wouldn't stop even as Natsu sent a small smile at them.

Plopping the equipment on the floor, the poor club members ran away immediately, not even bothering to help Natsu put them on. Sighing, Natus knelt down to grab the chest plate. Upon lifting it, Natsu knew immediately that his twin was right on the fact that Mochida might mess with the equipment.

It was heavier than normal, Natsu himself having helped clean up the kendo club for detention once knew that by experience, but with the extra training from Reborn, it seemed like normal clothing. For a second, Natsu was tempted to wear it anyway, just to scare Mochida, but he remembered Tsuna's warning.

_Whatever you do, don't underestimate him. He's not the Captain of the Kendo club for nothing. _

Frowning, Natsu dropped the armour and grabbed the shinai. The crowd stiffened watching with narrowed eyes. In the corner, HIbari eyed the armour, before sliding his tonfas out. A tug on the sleeve of his jacket stopped him from biting Mochida to death.

Looking down, he saw Tsuna. With a deceptive smile, Tsuna whispered, "Please don't interfere now, Hibari-san. You can bite Mochida to death later. If Natsu's loses, you'll get too. It's a win-win situation."

"Hnn" grunted Hibari, retracing his tonfas, to the relief of the more observant of the audience, and returned his attention to the duel. With a smile, Tsuna left Hibari's side to join Yamamoto near the front.

"Yo" greeted Yamamoto, not lifting his eyes from the two competitors. "Which side has the most chance of winning?"

"65% for Mochida-sempai. Natus is in the disadvantage" reported Tsuna lightly.

"Ahh, guess he should have accepted the armour then" sighed Yamamoto disappointed.

"No, he did the right thing" corrected Tsuna, shaking his head. "The armour will slow him down. Mochida is more experience in this, and will know just where to strike and how strong. Speed is one of Natsu's only advantages."

"But you said Mochida's going to win" blinked Yamamoto.

"No, I didn't" countered Tsuna, "I said Natsu's is at a disadvantage. Doesn't mean he won't win. He's no pushover and as stubborn as a mule, he'll pull through."

"Oh" said Yamamoto before shouting to Natsu, "Okay, Natsu! I'm betting 2000 **(1) **yen on you, so don't lose okay!"

"Count on it, Yamamoto" yelled Natsu back as the referee slowly started to raise the flag.

As Yamamoto cheered Natsu on and Tsuna smiled confidently, neither noticed the six **(2)**pairs of eyes on them, each having a new impression on the Sawada Twins.

**(1) Approximately 20 US dollars. I'm assuming that's a good amount fro gambling, since I never did before. **

**(2) Just to make it clear, the six are: Hibari Kyoya, Reborn, Kurokawa Hana, Sasagawa Kyoko, Gokudera Hayato, and Sasagawa Ryohei. **

**Reviews, Favorites, and Follows please.**


	10. Chapter 10: Clashing Catalysts

**AN****: I admit that I could have updated faster, but when you have limited time on something, you want to do something fun right? I got obsessed reading some fanfics. I suggest Naruto fanfics 'Guardian of Fire' by Agni, 'Life in Konoha's ANBU' by Shezza, and 'Who I Am' by TwinTrouble.**

**Note****: None.**

**Chapter 10: Clashing Catalysts**

The rules to the match were pretty simple to Tsuna, he guessed that they had made the dual easier for Natsu's sakes, as he had never used a shinai before. But it was a good thing in Tsuna's opinion, though Natsu's didn't seem to agree with the irritated looks he was shooting the referee.

Natsu had a habit of letting his pride get in the way, and the few times he had, it had came back to be a royal pain in the ass. Some times more literally than it was meant to, for both Natsu and whoever hurt his pride. For example, one time it had ended with Natsu getting a scar from a fox on his rear, after he kicked the poor thing after it had stole his crackers of course.

Besides that, Tsuna was quite please with the rules. Natsu only had to hit Mochida three times to win, regardless if it was a proper point or not. This was good, since Tsuna was pretty sure that Natsu had a rat nest of an idea of how to get a point.

Tsuna shook his head in exasperation, drawing the tentative surveying eye of Yamamoto, as the referee began the match and Natsu charged in recklessly. It was only his honed reflexes from Reborn's spartan training that saved him from Mochida's calculated stab with his shinai.

"Idiot Ni-san!" hissed Tsuna with disapproval, "He's leaving himself open. Thank Reborn that he managed to kick those reflexes into shape."

"Reborn?" asked Yamamoto curiously, having heard Tsuna mutterings, while keeping his eyes on the dual in front of him. Mochida was going in for a low slash while Natsu ducked, his own shinai held awkwardly in his hands.

"All you need to know is that he's a crazy, spartan, fedora wearing, 40 centimeter tall, chameleon totting, triggerhappy tutor we got yesterday. If you see him, run for your life and hope you live to see tomorrow" said Tsuna, as he watched Natsu suddenly surged upwards, colliding his forehead against Mochida's chin and bring his shinai up to slam it into Mochida's shoulder.

"Ha, Natsu got a point!" cheered Yamamoto excitedly. When Tsuna didn't respond, Yamamoto glanced over at his friend, who was sending a glare at the referee that basically said 'If you don't raise that flag I'll rip you to pieces and judo throw you out the window after I hang your intestines on my front door and shove a rusty knife up your ass while-'

Cough. You get the idea.

Yamamoto could only thank god it was not directed at him while wondering how in the hell did the referee not drop dead and burst into flames that second and why he even dared to not raise Natsu's flag in the first place. Everyone knew if you mess with the twins, your life will be ruined.

Oh, look. Hibari found out, and ooh, the tonfas are out.

Anyway, under Tsuna's murderous glare and Hibari's sudden appearance of his tonfas, was enough to get the referee to shakily hold up Natsu's red flag and reluctantly say, "Sawada Natsuyuki gets a point. 1 to 0 as of now."

Tsuna's glare disappeared instantly, replaced by an innocent smile, as if he hadn't been silently threatening torture just a second ago, and turned his attention back to the dual. Mochida grunted in acknowledgment, having thought the rig would work when Hibari Kyoya decided pink was his favorite color. Meaning, NEVER.

Faster than Natsu could react, the spiky haired kendo captain slashed his expertly held shinai against Natsu's lower stomach, drawing a choked cough from Natsu before he leaped away.

"...Ni-san" whispered Tsuna, agitated, as the referee cheerfully announced that Mochida got a point, a complete 180 attitude change.

Natsu was panting, one of his hands around his stomach, and his face was twisted in a mix of mild pain and sheer determination as the pain forced him onto his knees. Tsuna gritted his teeth, glaring murderously at Mochida. No one hurts his twin and gets away with it, even if both parties were willingly.

With one painful breath, Natsu managed to stand up, bring his shinai up for a measly defense in case Mochida tried again. Mochida obliged, and attacked. Their shinais met with a clash, and then Natsu decided to do something completely borderline, he punched Mochida in the cheek.

Tsuna blinked, Yamamoto's jaw drop, and the referee stared. "Is that against the rules?" asked a random student in the crowd, saying everyone's thoughts out loud.

Every student turned to the only visible form of authority in the gym, a certain skylark, who had been leaning against the walls with his eye's closed. Opening one eye, the perfect glared before grunting, "Hn."

"..."

"Is that a yes or no?"

"I vote no!" declared Tsuna, "The Rules didn't say anything about no punching, they just have to get 3 points."

"That means Natsu got his second point right?" asked Yamamoto to the grumbling crowd, who was now staring at the referee, who frankly looked confused and slightly terrified.

A smile of poison laced honey from Tsuna, and the referee hastily lifted Natsu's flag before declaring in a high, half-shrieking voice, "Sawada gets a point. 2 to 1."

Grinning victoriously, Natsu shouted, "Make that 3 to 2", and suddenly shifted his shinai from it's defense position, causing Mochida's shinai to collide against his stomach again, before his own smacked into Mochida's stomach.

There was a stunned silence before the referee raised Natsu's flag and said in a flat voice, "Sawada Natsuyuki wins 3 to 2."

Tsuna grinned. Everything would be fine now. Though he would have to give the referee a piece of his mind later. As Tsuna sped off to gomp his brother, quite a few people observed with various reactions.

* * *

Gokudera Hayato wasn't an easy person to impress, and he wasn't one to be loyal to just anyone. The mafia life was hard, cruel, and more often than not, you'll die by the time you reach your early thirties. But it was his world, and he had to follow its rules.

Even if the rules had dragged him to the small island of an country, Japan, and then dragged him to the even smaller town of Namimori, who was located in the middle of nowhere. In all, the rules sucked but you better suck it up if you wanna live.

But at that moment, Gokudera really didn't mind it, even if he had originally been dragged over screaming and kicking by those arrogant stick-up-their-ass vongolas to be a subordinate of some green, no doubt spoiled kid.

Looking at his new boss, from a distance, Gokudera really did not mind. Sawada Natsuyuki was decent, if not exemplary, and not exact insufferably spoiled. The file had said he had just found out about the mafia just yesterday, definitely not enough to get training in. But he had displayed talent.

On the other hand, Gokudera's eyes wandered over to his boss's brunette twin, the other candidate had to go. From what the file said, and what he observed, Sawada Tsunayoshi would drag his brother down. Vongola, Gokudera, the Mafia could not risk a weak link such as Sawada Tsunayoshi in the Vongola Decimo. He certainly couldn't become Vongola Decimo as spiny and weak as he was now.

Take out a cigarette, Gokudera decided on what he would do. With his eyes flashing with determination, Gokudera plotted the untimely demise of Sawada Tsunayoshi.

He would eliminate all risk to his new boss, even this small harmless brunette that couldn't possibly hurt a fly.

* * *

Reborn smirked. Natsu hadn't done as well as he hoped, but he hadn't done worst either. He would have to work with him to put some logic in the boy's head though, charging into a battle was a grave mistake. Besides that, it was good for a first battle.

Nodding in self agreement, Reborn's eyes strayed to Tsuna. It had not been the boy's battle, yet he had ripped apart every seam and stitch of the kendo captain's plan. Reborn could confidently say that Natsu would have most likely lost without those tips that Tsuna had provided.

That, and subtle threatening the referee.

Faintly, he wondered how the brunette would far if Natsu and his positions were switched. Would he win? Or would he lose? Anything seemed possible with those twins, potential was obvious within them. Their peers respected them, but it was a healthy respect born through judgement of character, and trust.

Now only the future could tell what was in store for them_. If they remained alive until then _thought a part of Reborn darkly, the events of 8 years ago still ringing in his mind and the recent deaths of the other heirs looming over his head.

He gritted his teeth. He knew his orders, those two were the last hopes of Vongola. They had to lead the famiglia, regardless if they wanted to or not. Duty would have to shape the two instead of the love and hate that had shaped their predecessors **(1).**

* * *

Natsu was happy, the pride and smug satisfaction practically begged to be let out of his chest. He had won the duel, though he felt a twinge of pity for the beaten kendo captain, as the spiky haired upperclassman was dragged away by some of the disciplinary committee members.

He didn't have much time to pity before Tsuna slammed him in a hug, his twin's laughter ringing in his ears as he smiled.

"Yo!" Natsu greeted, and his twin let him go, smiling.

"You won, You won!" cheered Tsuna, his eyes sparkling as he resisted the urge to start jumping around like a hyperactive 4 year old that just downed a mountain of candy bars.

"Of course I did!" retorted Natsu with a relaxed grin as Yamamoto appeared between them, swing a shoulder over their shoulders.

"Maa Ma, You did a good job, Natsu!" complemented Yamamoto.

"Forget about that, look who's coming over!" whispered Tsuna excitedly, his attention having done a perfect 180. Natsu sulked-Tsuna wasn't paying attention to him anymore!- but turned his head to follow Tsuna's line of sight, and dropped his shinai, causing a resounding smack.

Hibari with his black coat swinging behind him, was walking a straight path toward the trio, the crowd parting around him. It was common knowledge that the skylark hated crowding, and no one in the school was masochistic enough to get on his bad side, besides Natsu of course.

"Suicidal Irritating Crazy Brainless Herbivore" greeted Hibari to Natsu, drawing at twitch from the blonde while Hibari proceeded to call Tsuna, "Obsessive Pointy Eyed Bunny Herbivore", and Yamamoto, "Killer Baseball Herbivore."

Tsuna supposed he should be happy that his name was more creative and more words than simply 'Herbivore' but seriously? 'Obsessive Pointy Eyed Bunny Herbivore'? Obsessive he could understand as he had OCD and had strange obsession with things like pineapples, felines, cleanness, and lots more, but what part of him looked like a bunny? And his eyes were not pointy, dammit!

"Hibari-san" he greeted with neutral tone, trying his best not to explode. _Breath, Tsuna_ he told himself _Do not yell at your sempai_. Inhale, Exhale, Inhale, Exhale, Aah.

Unfortunately, Natsu had no such restrictions. "BASTARD!" yelled Natsu as he picked up his shinai from the ground and tried to whack the disciplinary committee chairman. Hibari ducked, and rose to meet the challenged with his metal tonfa's. As the two hit it off, Tsuna sighed and shook his head while Yamamoto laughed an cheered them on.

**(1) This comes from a quote of Albert Einstein. He said "Love is a better teacher than duty."**

**Favorite, Follow, and Review please. Thank you all.**


	11. Chapter 11: Building Winds

**AN****: As I said last chapter, blame my grandma. Just to make this clear, 'Butterfly with Invisible Wings' is currently stuck on writer's block. If I ever touch it again, I'm going to delete it, then rewrite it. It's THAT bad.**

**Note****: I actually do not know anything about hacking, judo, or parkour besides what they are. So most of what I say about it are going to be internet information or me just making things up. Maybe, I'll just ditch the details. **

**Chapter 11: Building Winds**

Natsu was having an absolutely fabulous day. His victory over his senior, Mochida, was still fresh in his mind, and he had gone to school with his belly full of his brother and his mother's victory feast and a smiling Tsuna.

Upon arriving, he was greeted with the sight of a black-and-blue Mochida limping around the school, under orders from Hibari to patrol the school, Hibari himself having wandered off to do who knows what. Natsu was laughing the whole time as he wandered up the stairs with his sniggering twin, Mochida's new 'regent' hairdo in his mind.

Upon opening the door, his classmates pretty much swamped him with praises and he had settled at his desk with an infectious grin, prepared for a good, but ordinary day.

At least, until a silver haired human puppy had showed up and started following (Read: stalking) him and swear loyalty to him while calling him 'Juudaime'.

"What?" said Natsu from his seat, staring blankly at Gokudera, having been interrupted from a rather intense argument with one of his basketball team members about what kind of basketball shots were better (Jump shot is best, dammit!),before Gokudera's rather random statement. Next to him, Tsuna perked up from his reviewing of his notes, and was currently sporting a dropped jaw.

Gokudera stood straight as a board in front in him, his head facing the ground in a bow, causing his eyes to be hidden by his bangs. Tension practically oozed from him, causing Natsu's teammate to excuse himself quickly and quietly from the rather awkward situation.

"Juudaime! I have underestimated you! I swear eternal loyalty to you as your suburbanite!" repeated Gokudera, raising his head to reveal green eyes full of devotion and admiration.

Natsu blinked, and then he stared. Did the poor boy eat magic mushrooms are something? Pulling the silver haired boy down to his eye level by the collar of his shirt, Natsu put his hand on Gokudera's forehead, ignoring the boy's stutterings.

His eyebrows furrowing, Natsu turned to Tsuna, "Tsuna~ his temperature is normal, so what's wrong with him?"

"Baka-Nii-san..."sighed Tsuna as he shook his head at his twins lack of manners, before taking his brother by the back of his shirt and dragging him and his new human puppy outside the classroom. Yamamoto, having observed the situation quietly got up from his seat across the classroom, halting his small conversation with one of his friends with a hand, and left after them.

"What's going on, Tsuna?" whispered Yamamoto to Tsuna as he eyed the rather dumbfounded blonde and his cute silverhead companion, who had started a rather confusing, one-sided conversation.

Tsuna shrugged. "That's what we're trying to find out."

"Like I said, I declared loyalty, Juudaime" said Gokudera, as if it explained everything.

"THAT DOESN'T MAKE ANY SENSE!" yelled Natsu.

"If you actually listened, you would know" said a high-pitched squeaking voice as a large green hammer connected with Natsu's head. Reborn leaped on top of the blonde, settling down easily.

Redirecting his attention, Reborn glanced appraisingly at Gokudera. "Nice to meet you, Smokin'Bomb Hayato. I see you have finished your assessment."

Gokudera nodded respectfully, addressing Reborn's statement, "Not quite, Reborn-san. But almost done, I just have to eliminate a couple things first."

Reborn narrowed his eyes but didn't say anything. Tsuna tensed, and Natsu eyed his twin careful, wondering what his twin was picking up. Yamamoto just blinked, confused and obvious to the tension that was in the air.

"Neh, who are you?" asked Yamamoto curiously to the cursed infant. The twins frozed and turned to face Yamamoto. Their friend was innocent, besides his father's rather bloody teenage puberty stage, and they really didn't want to get their friend in the mafia, and most likely send Yamamoto Tsuyoshi into another massacre/rampage.

That, and they didn't want a serial killer after them, never mind that the serial killer had babysat them when they were young and had fed them sushi just a week ago.

Natsu laughed nervously as Tsuna gave Yamamoto a shaky smiled. "Nothing, Yamamoto" said Tsuna as he distracted the baseball lover, "Reborn's just intro-"

SLAM! A green mallet quickly shut Tsuna up as Reborn smiled innocently, his small hand still connected to the mallet, and introduced himself. "Ciaossu. My name is Reborn, the world's #1 hitman and the baka-twins's new home tutor, assigned to train them to be proper mafia bosses. You look like you have some potential, would you like to join their family?"

"Reborn-san!" yelled Gokudera in protest as the twins showed their own small forms of refusal.

Yamamoto laughed heartily, scratching his head, "Eh? So Tsuna and Natsu are playing a mafia game, huh? Sure, I'll join. My name's Yamamoto Takeshi, by the way"

Reborn smiled, like a predator that just caught it's prey, "Pleasure to meet you, Yamamoto."

Without waiting for a reply, Reborn turned his attention back to Gokudera. "Tsuna. Natsu. I see you've met Hayato already."

Tsuna nodded obediently as Natsu scowled, scuffing his shoe against the floor. Reborn's lips thinned and he said, "As you most likely guessed, Hayato is a mafioso I request to come over to Japan."

Natsu's jaw dropped, having not guessed that all. Reborn made a mental note to get him to work on that. Meanwhile Tsuna tilted his head, his eyes calculating.

"He's a well known and accomplished Mafioso, having earned the name of Smokin'Bomb Hayato for the sheer amount of firepower he stores" continued Reborn, "Based on his assessment, he may or may not become a member of your family, or famiglia in italian."

Gokudera smirked pridefully at the compliments, lighting a cigarette and drawing a smoke with pleasure as his eyes wandered over the new flash of respect in their eyes. His target on the other hand, mumbled something under his breath, his eyes not meeting his.

Only Reborn heard the brief, "Smokin'Bomb" that left the brunette's lips.

"I don't care either way!" declared Natsu, shaking out of his dumbfounded stupor. "Just stop involving our lives with your damn mafia. Bad enough with this mafia boss thing, We don't want anything to do with that nonsense until we actually have to go and become bosses!"

With that, Natsu threw Reborn off his head, who jumped onto Gokudera's head with a frown, and stormed back into the classroom, slamming the door behind him, deafening his twin's concerned yells.

"Ni-san!" yelled Tsuna, running after him. As he passed Gokudera, the silver haired boy suddenly grabbed his hand. Turning around, Tsuna was about to ask him what he wanted but then he felt Gokudera passing him something. Narrowing his eyes, Tsuna yanked his hand back and ran after his twin, leaving Gokudera to watch him with cold eyes. Yamamoto watched quietly, his own gold-brown eyes troubled.

* * *

It was lunchtime when Tsuna retrieved the thing that Gokudera gaved him. It was a simple piece of paper, no bigger than the palm of his hand if he unfolded it. Writing in elegant writing was a simple message.

_You are a liability to the Tenth. 5:00 today in the school courtyard - Gokudera Hayato._

Tsuna gritted his teeth, leaning against the wall of the roof, hidden in the shadows and out of sight. Raising his head, Tsuna eye's strayed to Natsu who was a couple feet away, talking to one of his teammates, who had ran up the stairs to deliver a message from the captain of Natsu's basketball team. Yamamoto was slipping in comments as he ate his lunch.

It wasn't the first time he had been told to basically get away from his twin. Nor was it the first time he got in trouble for being with him. Natsu was a popular person, being the star of the basketball team, and Tsuna was, well, not very popular.

Tightening his fist, crushing the note in his palm, Tsuna remembered. Compared to his twin, he was weak, clumsy, and just not very good. He had no real talents and people just weren't happy that one of their idols were best friends with such a no good person.

When he was younger he had been bullied behind his brother's back. Nothing really serious, just threatening notes left in his desk, sometimes being cornered in an alley, warnings to get away from his own twin. Then as he grew older, things became harder, the bullies becoming bolder.

He had learned to defend himself then. Some basic parkour to escape and some basic judo to fight back. But then Natsu had started to find out, and it got worst. Natsu got involved, and Tsuna found himself watching Natsu fight his fights for him.

So had put his observation skills to use and started fighting with words. Blackmailing, and selling his service, he dived into the world of social circles. Though it kept him and Natsu safe, it had also earned him names behind his back, a dark reputation, and isolation.

He knew what they said behind his back. _Tattletale_ they said, _Snitch_. He had little to none real friends, except Natsu and perhaps Yamamoto, who Tsuna could only trust because they had been childhood friends and Natsu had trusted him.

Staring at the crumpled note in his hand, Tsuna mused that it had been such a long time since he had to use his fists to fight, instead of his words, to stay by Natsu's side. Lifting his head, Tsuna destroyed the scowl that had risen upon his lips and instead donned a smile.

"Natsu, I'm going to ask Fujimori-sensei something okay, be right back!" he heard himself yell as he ran to the door, determination and a protectiveness honed from years of watching Natsu getting hurt for his sake pushing him to do what he needed to do.

"Eh?" Natsu turned his head to face him, completely ignoring his teammate, who scowled at Tsuna, "Do you want me to come with you?"

"No need, Ni-san" he said, opening the door. Natsu frowned, unconvinced, and was about to stand up to follow when Yamamoto interfered.

"Come on Natsu, It's not like school is dangerous. We got Hibari around here right?" laughed Yamamoto, sending a wink at Tsuna. Tsuna's smile twitched, Yamamoto knew more than he showed or said. It was that kind of unreadable face that Tsuna respected.

Pacified, Natsu reluctantly said, "Fine. Be careful though, Tsuna."

"Sure" he yelled, as ran inside and down the stairs and stopped on the 2nd Floor. Fujimori-sensei's room was on the 3rd, but that wasn't his real goal anyway. Slowing to a stop, Tsuna speed walked to the room he wanted, E9, also known as the computer room.

Walking in, Tsuna found the room practically empty except for two students. Choosing a computer in the back, completely out of view, Tsuna sat down at turned on the only available internet server, Safari.

Quickly searching something, Tsuna clicked on the official website of the nation police before opening up Namimori Middle School's website. Cracking his knuckles, Tsuna got ready to do the thing he did best, get information.

_It's going to be okay _he told himself mentally _No new kid, mafioso or not, is going to tear me from my brother's side._

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	12. Chapter 12: Eye of the Raging Tempest

**AN****: So sorry for the late update! I had a lot of trouble with this chapter and it's a lot shorter than usual. So I'm pretty sure it sucks but *shrugs*eh. **

**Note****: Bullying is traumatic, so Tsuna might act weird at some points. Oh, do you want Tsuna and Natsu to have a pet? Like a real animal?**

**Chapter 12: Eye of the Raging Tempest**

Gokudera Hayato was one, very messed up, very unlucky, person concluded Tsuna as he skimmed through the meager-Mafia firewalls were ridiculously difficult to even poke a hole through!-information he had gathered. In all, the information was barely a page long.

The first paragraph contained information about Gokudera's birthday, birthplace, blood type, gender, and basically a bunch of stuff that wasn't exactly important. The next couple chapters described Gokudera's appearance and personality, gathered from short in between encounters. In all nothing was really important, though Tsuna made sure to memorize everything, his OCD kicking in.

The next couple paragraphs were more appreciated. They explained the sheer legendary ammunition that Gokudera toted around, which was apparently enough to blow up an apartment building with plenty left over, when the italian police once arrested him (and promptly lost him less than 24 hours later).

It also went on to describe every pro and con of every type of firepower Gokudera ever used. Which was a lot. Sweatdropping slightly, Tsuna spent a couple minutes memorizing the dynamite, bombs, and basically anything that call blow up, that Gokudera had ever used in his short 14 years of life.

Sighing, Tsuna glanced at the clock of the computer he had been using. It was 11: 49, only 11 minutes until lunch was over. Sighing, Tsuna staggered to his feet and stretched, his legs having fallen asleep during his work.

"The things I do for my brother" mumbled Tsuna as he stumbled out the door. Natsu was surely waiting up there for him, with a scolding born from concern at his lips. Sighing, Tsuna completely missed the pair of onyx black eyes watching him with curiosity.

* * *

"Seriously! What took you so long?" complained Natsu as they walked down the stairs, his arms behind his head, the bell having rang, signalling the end of their lunch period.

"There was a lot of details" lied Tsuna smoothly, as he closed his book bag neatly, "I had trouble remembering everything."

"You could have just asked me" grumbled Natsu, sulking slightly. Tsuna stopped and stared at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Ni-san who scored a 59 on the last history test, please tell me how you could you have explained to me the war tactics and weaponry we applied during the attack of pearl harbor in 1941" said Tsuna, matter of fact.

Natsu blinked and pouted. Tsuna rolled his eyes, and he heard the sound of Yamamoto's tinkling laughter behind him. Smiling, fondly, Tsuna listened to Yamamoto encouraging comments.

"Ma ma, don't take it to heart, Natsu. I don't know what Tsuna is talking about either" said Yamamoto cheerfully.

"You two..." muttered Tsuna as they reached their floor, "You guys really need to study, the midterms are just around the corner."

Yamamoto rubbed his head sheepishly while Natsu looked anywhere but at his face. Shaking his head, Tsuna walked down the hallway in search of their next class, with Natsu and Yamamoto following him like naughty puppies on a leash.

"By the way, what did your captain want?" ask Tsuna, remembering the messenger that had been talking with Natsu.

"He wants me to stay after school with the team to practice. The next game is just a week away, and it's against Midori" explained Natsu.

"Midori?" questioned Tsuna, his brow furrowing, "Isn't that the all girl's school on the other side of town? Didn't know they had a basketball team."

"They do" said Natsu, "I heard they're pretty good, any advice?"

Tsuna hummed, "At our age, girls are generally shorter than us. Use that to your advantage I guess. What time does the practice end anyway?"

"Uh.." Natsu scratched his head. "Captain says that it's going until at least 6 or so. Do you want to go home instead? Or do you want to stay, you don't have to watch if you don't want to, I know you don't get basketball at all."

"Of course I'm staying! I got something to do anyway" said Tsuna as they neared their classroom.

"Great!" smiled Natsu before turning to Yamamoto, "What about you? Can you stay after school?"

"Gomen, I promised my dad I'll help at the shop today. How about next time?" apologized Yamamoto. Natsu nodded in understanding.

* * *

One of the things that Tsuna never got, no matter how much studying he did, was basketball. So staring at Natsu while his team practiced was utterly boring. Grumbling, Natsu eyed the gym's clock which unfortunately read 4:30. Which meant he would still have to wait a while until Gokudera appeared.

Grimacing at the wait, Tsuna turned his attention back to the practice. The 10 member team was split into two even rows. One row seemed to be shooting while the other row caught the rebound. Then they switched.

Currently he saw one of Natsu's taller teammates attempting shot while Natsu himself was skirting on the outside, ready to get the rebound. Placing his head in his hands, Tsuna catched with detached boredom.

The shot grazed the hoop but failed. Natsu caught the ball in mid bounce and passed it to the next teammate before switching rows. Sighing, Tsuna pulled out his phone. It wasn't anything fancy, certainly not one of those expensive iphones, but rather a red flip phone.

Flip the rectangular cover open, Tsuna saw his screen, a anime picture of someone cosplaying as a pineapple. Ignoring it, Tsuna started fiddling with his phone, trying to find something to stave off boredom.

Giving up,Tsuna pushed himself to his feet before glancing at Natsu who was covered in a thin sheet of sweat and deeply involved in the game. Tsuna considered telling Natsu about him leaving, but decided not to.

He had a game to worry about, and if he told him, Natsu just might ditch practice to follow him. He did it before and he really didn't want Natsu to see a catfight between his twin and a not-really-but-sorta friend. It would just stress Natsu out and possibly injure him. Leaping off the stands that he had been sitting on, Tsuna landed with a cat-like grace, obtained by hours of practice in parkour to escape bullies.

Sending one last glance at Natsu, he strided out the gym door. Almost immediately, sunlight danced across his eyes, blinding him temporarily. Raising an arm to block the light as his eyes adjust to the change of lighting, Tsuna glanced around before conceding to going to the courtyard.

If he was going to be bored to death, might as well show up early. Maybe he could get this over quickly, and hopefully not alert Natsu. He really didn't need his twin's brother complex kicking in.

With his arms behind his head, Tsuna walked to the courtyard, occasionally darting a hand to his book bag, which hung across his chest, to finger his chosen weapon, assuring himself that it was there.

Biting his lips, Tsuna felt a small blossom of fear and doubt erupt in his heart. The weapon was his only chance of gaining some sort of cover from the dynamite, even if it was rather orthodox.

He just prayed it didn't break mid fight and in turn, cause him to lose the fight and his life. He nevered like the thought of being buried anyway, just imagine how claustrophobic the ground would be!

He shuddered at the thought as he approached the gate into the courtyard. It wasn't fancy, just a flat ground of rock surrounded by a wire fence. It was stale, a place devoid of life in which bullies carried their business with one of their unfortunate victims.

He would know. When he had been young, weak, defenseless, a rabbit to the wolves, he had been held in strangle hold against the fence as they beat him to the ground, telling him how worthless he was and how he didn't deserve the brother that he had lived side by side longer than those bastards ever did.

Taking a shaky breath, struggling to contain the rage and rejected fear that course through his brain, as his haunted eyes wandered over the yard before resting on a single figure. Blinking in mild surprise, he immediately tensed while his hand instinctively reached inside his bag.

"Showed up early huh, you coward? Looks like you aren't completely shameless as you didn't just run away" huffed the rough voice of Gokudera Hayato. "Might as well, get this over well."

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	13. Chapter 13: Cyclone and Tempest

**AN****: After over a week of silence I am (finally) back! This chapter was hard to write *pout* Rewrote it 3 times and I got stuck for hours on the part when Tsuna plans how to win the battle~! But, I'm done, so read on fellow Readers. Oh, how do you guys feel on a hetalia one shot?**

**Notes****: Just to make it clear, Tsuna is using the umbrellas that you can fold and stuff in your school bag, not one of those long stiff ones that are like 3 feet tall. The type of umbrella may change later on, *hint hint kokuyo arc* and Natsu's weapon is STILL undecided, so have fun. Suggestions are welcome. By the way, the reason the umbrella broke with that one dynamite yet was fine with the rest, because the dynamite was literally like an inch away. Close range, strong hit, equals a very, very dead umbrella.**

**Chapter 13: Cyclone and Tempest**

Natsu wasn't an idiot. Just because his twin had this very creepy observation/stalker tendencies and intuition did not mean he hadn't stolen his fair share of eyes from his parents. So it didn't exactly take long for him to notice that his twin wasn't in the stands where he was supposed to be.

Freezing up, Natsu gaped like a fish at the empty seat. When in hell did his twin leave? He didn't have much more twin to think before a basketball connected to his face. Yelling in a mixture of pain and shock, Natsu fell on his butt.

Immediately, his teammates surrounded him in worry. "You okay, man?" asked one of them. Natsu nodded distractedly as he stared at the stands. His teammates followed his line of sight and made a face that looked like they just sucked a lemon, though they were careful to hide it from Natsu.

"Worried about your brother, huh" said one, with a sickly sweet voice, "Don't bother, he'll handle himself just fine. Now, lets get back to our game!"

Natsu frowned and was about to argue when he remembered that Tsuna had said something about having something to do, whatever that meant. It'll be fine he reassured himself mentally He probably gone to do what he said.

Nodding his head in agreement, Natsu got up on his feet, basketball in his hands, and about to follow his teammates before he hesitated. As much as he loved basketball, he was a brother first and foremost, and frankly, his brother sense was screaming that something was very, very wrong.

Donning an apologetic grin, Natsu instead threw the basketball over to the team captain and ran to the lockers, yelling over his shoulders, "Gomen, I'll make it up to you guys later!"

Kicking the locker doors open, he quickly showered and changed, running out with his book bag tossed over his shoulder, clothes in disarray, and his hair still wet from a quick shower. Tossing a peace sign over to his unhappy teammates, he darted out the door.

Half running, half straightening out his clothes, he let his intuition lead him to where his brother was. Tsuna was going to freak when he found out that he ditched practice, but it would be worth his safety and that soft, half-delighted, half-irritated smile that he would toss at him.

It wasn't long before he spotted the smoke coming from the courtyard and his heart to go cold with fear.

* * *

Not even 5 minutes into the battle, and Tsuna was mentally cursing whoever introduced Gokudera to bombs, because this was absolutely ridiculous. The boy kept removing dynamite from seemingly nowhere and there seemed to be an unlimited supply.

God, he knew the mafioso toted around a legendary supply of fire power, but it wasn't anything to the real thing. Dodging another thrown dynamite, Tsuna came face to face with another one.

Yelping in shock, Tsuna opened his umbrella, which thankfully shielded him from both the explosion and the smoke. The force of the dynamite pushed him back slightly, but he was otherwise okay.

Smiling roguishly, Tsuna thanked the gods for Natsu's horrible, dangerous, radioactive, acidic, poisonous cooking, because those life-threatening creations caused the desperate creation of his prized umbrella.

Natsu's cooking was horrible in the way that it would literally melt through walls. So after finding out that the school was giving mandatory home economics, which also gave him a panic attack, he had desperately emailed his pen pal, who happened to be a genius inventor from England, and after lots of bribing and a natto lollipop recipe, had acquired the umbrella.

With a steel handle and fire proof, waterproof, and thankfully, acid proof, and lot of other-proofs cover, it had saved his life, his classmates life, and his teacher's life on more than one occasion, even outside the classroom, because Natsu was drawn to the kitchen, and he couldn't kick his twin out no matter how many pots and pans he tossed at his twin.

It also proved dependable when facing silver haired mafiosos and exploding dynamite, not that he was complaining. A yell of "Twice Bomb" was heard, and Natsu gritted his teeth and jumped back to safety.

So far, they had played a long and twisted game of cat and mouse, and Tsuna just couldn't get a kick in. Glaring unhappily at the silver head, he twirled the umbrella like a mechanical fan, causing the smoke from the blast to turn to Gokudera instead of him, blinding him for a bit and allowing him to plan.

His brain scrambled for an idea and he mentally reviewed the weaknesses of dynamite. He could stop and pinch out the flames, but the sheer amount of dynamite Gokudera was tossing around...that and he he need to cook dinner later on, and burns were just going to make things painful. Natsu would also freak.

He could just through the dynamite to Gokudera. The boy wouldn't dare try doing it when they were so close, it could hurt him just as much as it hurt Tsuna. But he wasn't suicidal, that was Natsu's job, since his twin insisted on nosing into other peoples business, yakuza, bullies, or Hibari.

Tensing as the smoke cleared, he opened his umbrella fully and twirled it nonchalantly, eyes watching the smoke for Gokudera, his hand prepared to swing the umbrella to protect him if dynamites were thrown.

"You're not half-bad" growled a voice from the smoke, a dark shadow visible in the grey, "But you can't win a fight by running away. But that's the only thing you know how to do, right? Run and run, and leave your brother to deal with the incoming fists."

Snaring, he darted into the smoke, snapping it close, before striking at the shadow. It fell into thin air, as the shadow dodge, revealing its identity as Gokudera Hayato, sneering in his full glory.

"Tch, you got some potential" mused Gokudera, lazily withdrawing a handful of dynamite, all of them lighted with flames, "But too bad. Only one person can be boss, and your brother wins in this competition."

Tsuna glared uncharacteristically. It wasn't one of his usual half-hearted glares of irritation and thinly veiled exasperation but of bitterness, frustration, fear, and self righteous anger toward the world. It was the look of wild, uncontrollable rage.

"We never asked to be boss!" he roared, jumping back while opening the umbrella to shield him from the explosion, echoing loudly and sending any remaining birds into the air in alarm.

"We never asked for this, this hell!" he screamed swinging the umbrella wildly in his rage, "We didn't want this!"

Closing in on the bomber, he swung the open umbrella wildly, his anger blinding him to the futility, the foolishness of the move. With years of experience, Gokudera disarmed the umbrella from his grasp, sending it flying away to crash a couple yards away, bent and broken; all torn fabric and twisted metal that Natsu's cooking had never been able to do, with a dynamite.

Kicking Tsuna's legs out from under him, Gokudera grabbed him by the bangs of his shoulder-length brown hair. Both of them left panting from the fight, Tsuna stared into Gokudera's eyes with bittersweet defeat at his lips.

Without lifting his eyes from the brunette's own amber-brown, he used his free hand to fetch a single cigarette from his pocket, lit it with a move that was too fast for Tsuna to see, and took a long drag.

Watching as Gokudera took a smoke, Tsuna commented monotonously, numb from defeat, "Smoking is bad for your health, you know. You'll end up dead by the time you hit 40."

Smirking slightly, Gokudera answered, whether to mock him or just for the heck of it Tsuna didn't know and wouldn't ever know. "Doesn't matter, when you're in the mafia, you die young. Better die by your own hands instead of by some paid out bastard."

"Mafia" Tsuna whispered, "What kind of demon would invent that dratted thing...?"

Gokudera hummed, "I think of my line of work as more in the lines of 'It's a dirty job, but someone has to do it'. You want to live? Better work your ass off. Who cares if it's a crime. Better alive than dead."

"What are you saying?" whispered Tsuna, staring up at the boy with horror. Gokudera grinned roguishly at him before dropping the cigarette and crushing it under his foot.

"It's simple. The mafia existed, because people want to survive, and money equals survival in this century. You got no money, you get no food in your stomach, and you'll be ten feet under in a couple days" explained Gokudera with a cold, ruthless grin that Tsuna both hated and understood. "Now unfortunately for you, it's time for you to die."

Speaking nonchalantly as he wrapped his free hand around Tsuna's fragile throat, Gokudera said with a hint of regret, "I don't think I would have mind much if you've been an only child, you would have been a good boss. But your brother has more potential, and even if you have to die for it, I, we, the mafia, can not risk you surviving."

"Promise me" he wheezed as the hand tighten, "Promise to protect my brother, no matter what he does or how he acts, in my place, promise me!"

There was silence from the bomber and black spots began to appear in his vision. His eyes slowly fell close in defeat, of course the bomber wouldn't agree. He would just be another dead body on the boy's shoulders.

"Just this once, brat. Just this once, I promise" said a voice gruffly. Snapping his eyes open in his surprise even as his vision blurred and black creeped at the edges of his vision, he smiled in gratitude, despite the tears that threatened to spill from his eyes.

At least his brother would be safe. It would make Natsu sad, but he would stand up. Even if he didn't, Reborn or Mama would kick him out of his misery. But he doubted it was needed. He was strong, stronger than anyone he ever seen, even Reborn, because he was sure his brother would surpass that strange enigma of an infant one day. One day.

He want to live for one more day. He want to laugh with his brother again. He wanted to say goodbye to everyone, even to all those bullies and Hibari. He wanted to live, maybe it was selfish, but he wanted to live.

_He wanted to live._

Orange flashed behind his eyelids and he felt warm and cozy, like a summer day of peace and silent happiness. Power was in the orange, he could feel that clear as day. But what kind of power he didn't know. It had always been there, a quiet sleeping warmth in his belly, but now it was awake, from what he didn't know.

_Do you wish to live? for what? _the orange asked. Maybe it was just him over exaggerating everything, but it felt like it was a part of him and him a part of it.

_Yes. I want to live. I want to see my brother again. I want to see my mom, my friends, and everyone once again. I want to live _he whispered back, a silent wish to a god that had long since turn it's back on mankind.

Maybe it was his intuition that told him what was to come, or maybe it was just a coincidence, but he opened his eyes to Gokudera's startled green eyes and whispered.

"I'm sorry but I want to live."

"TSUNA!"

A beautiful orange flame blossomed upon his forehead, like the kiss of some divine being, the color of the sunset, of whiskey, and hardened amber.

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	14. Chapter 14: Will to Live Beyond

**AN****: Sorry for the late update, internet connection went nuts for a while and had lots of trouble with the battle. Hope you like it~!**

**Notes****: Gokudera lits his dynamite with fast movement and friction. In this case, against the air. I heard if you move like really, really fast, like past the sound barrier fast, things light on fire.**

**Chapter 14: Will to Live Beyond**

The flame was beautiful, Natsu would have been enamoured with it if the flame wasn't on his brother's head while he was being choked by that transfer student turned mafioso in the middle of the courtyard, which looked like a giant cat had just come and mauled it, with that strange umbrella that Tsuna insisted on totting around laying in tatters in some corner.

Gaping, Natsu stood there stupidly for a couple seconds and would have perhaps more if Reborn hadn't popped out of a tree and whistled impressively.

"Hyper Dying Will already? Looks like I'm not going to be able to use the dying will bullets" commented Reborn in a mix of sadness and happiness. He had looked forward to seeing the twins embarrassing themselves by running around half-naked, but it did meant they had lots and lots of potential. "Ah well, I'll just triple the man-eating-dogs than."

"DON'T THINK UP IDEAS ON HOW TO TORTURE US WHILE WE'RE STANDING RIGHT THERE! What the hell are you wearing anyway?"

"Disguise" pointed out Reborn. And he was. If a walking and talking, tiny tree was a disguise. Natsu stared at him for a minute before shaking his head and turning to the matter at hand. Mafia was weird, strange, and lots of other things, but he had better start getting used to everything before he went nuts.

Take a deep breath after he let that out, Natsu's brain finally kicked into gear. Slow as a turtle, that brain.

"Okay, deep breath Natsu. There's a flame on your brother's head, that should be burning him alive but somehow isn't, while he's being strangled by that weird tsundere transfer student turned mafioso that you got like zero chance of beating" mumbled Natsu out loud to himself as he massaged his head. "Now think, Natsu. How do you save you brother?"

...1...2...3...4-

"GAH, FORGET IT, I'M BAD AT THIS ANYWAY!"

THUD! Massaging his forehead that had connected to the floor at the sheer stupidity of his student, Reborn popped up just in time to watch Natsu storm over, and punch Gokudera in the jaw, causing Tsuna to drop to the floor, limp from lack of oxygen, as Gokudera released him in surprise.

While Tsuna desperately struggled to get oxygen into his lungs, Gokudera was cursing up a storm as he massaging his bright red, absolutely aching, and possibly fracture jaw.

"Hurts, huh?" grinned Natsu savagely in the middle of Gokudera's swearing, "You deserve it for choking my brother."

Without even giving him a warning, Natsu darted in for another punch, but Gokudera was prepared this time and sent a volley of dynamite sailing at him. Dodging the arsel, Natsu barreled in with the grace of an lion with a hurt cub and sent Gokudera flying into a wall with a single powerful uppercut.

Jumping in with savage anger, Natsu started a stream of punches and kicks before Gokudera managed to gain a firm hold onto one of Natsu's arm. Gently as possible, wary of harming his future boss, the explosive bomber managed to toss Natsu off of him.

Unfortunately for Tsuna, Natsu landed right on top of him, causing his lungs to release the cloud of much needed oxygen that he had been gathering. Groaning, Natsu winced as his twin's thin structure dug painfully into him, not that he had notice just what he had landed on.

"Ugh" grunted Natsu as he sat up, glaring at Gokudera, "Couldn't you have picked somewhere else to throw me? The ground's so lumpy!"

He was about to say more, when a tug on his ear interrupted him. Glancing down, Natus blinked before his mouth turned into the shape of an O. Staring up at him, face blue with lack of oxygen, was his brother.

Smiling brightly, Tsuna, with a noticeably lack of flame on his forehead and all, managed to wheezed out a couple words, "Ni-san, not that I don't appreciate you punching the guy, but can you please get off me? You're pretty heavy,you know, go on a diet after this, okay? And I'm so sorry for being insufficiently soft, you jerk!"

Mentally wincing, Natsu hurriedly got off the poor brunette allowing Tsuna to take a breath of much needed air. Relieved to hear him breathe and see the color rapidly returning to his face, Natsu offered a hand to his brother.

Sitting up, Tsuna absolutely beamed at him before taking his offered hand and standing up. Brushing dust off his clothes, He said in an approving voice, "At least you remember your manners. Now if you did it on the dinner table it would be much appreciated.."

As Natsu's face relaxed, He added in deceivingly sweet voice, "Now come on, and beat the crap out of that guy."

"W-What?" sputtered Natsu for a second before regaining his nerve. "Oh hell no! You think I'm going to let you fight with the guy, who might I add, nearly killed you a minute ago if I hadn't interfered?!"

"Yes" said Tsuna resolutely, "Because I got a bone to pick with him, so suck it up and help me beat the crap out of that bomb-crazy idiot for destroying my life-saving, ridiculously expensive umbrella and dragging you into this mess."

Natsu glared at him, unhappily, as he argued back. "Doesn't matter. You're staying out of this. You just nearly died-"

Before Natsu could finished Gokudera interrupted them, propping himself up against the wall, blood leaking out of a corner of his mouth. Bring up a hand to wipe the blood, Gokudera said "As flattered as I am that you're arguing about which one of you is going to beat the living crap out of me, I don't plan on dying today. I got a job to finish, so be quiet and stay still."

* * *

Gokudera didn't know what to think of the twins. It wasn't just the brunette anymore, the blondie was giving him a headache too. Blondie was a surprise so was the brunette. He honestly hadn't expected the brunette to even hold a flying chance.

But it wasn't exactly unappreciated. Better to kill a wolf in sheep's clothing than just an innocent lamb. At least he could tell himself that the boy was a threat to society, the guilt wouldn't be too bad, and it would save him some sleep. Not much, but every second of sleep was appreciated.

But then the battle had gone on, and he had been impressed, somewhat. The boy need a crash course of training and something to help him keep calm-meditation, maybe-along with a therapist, because the kid was taking the mafia like a ticking time bomb, but he wasn't half bad.

He had even considered letting the boy live, but that would just make it worse. Better to crash and burn quickly than die after a slow torturous mockery of the thing called life. But just when he was about to kill the guy-boy really, he was so, so small and so easy to crush beneath his fingers-the brunette asked him to promise to protect his brother.

...

He was supposed to ignore him and kill him, like the proper mafioso his father trained him to be before he found out he couldn't be normal, since he was a bastard, and tucked the information into a ball and ran it over with a bulldozer before letting the pieces fall.

But he didn't because the poor brunette looked like a kicked puppy and despite the fact he kicked puppies before (killed them too, but no one needed to know that) some tiny, tiny spark of compassion that had miraculously survived the mafia but wouldn't survive anymore had well up and the words had said themselves.

When he was finally doing his job and eliminating the poor guy, the kid had a change of heart and the next thing he knew, there was an absolute stunning sky flame right in front of his face before-Oh, His future boss had jumped in from nowhere and punched him.

...Yeah, way to ruin the second impression-or was it the third?-Boss. But that was how he found himself with his hands full of the Sawada Twins. The mission was absolute confusion, the information was in the go-find-it-yourself-lazy-ass-idiot category, and his targets were off there rocker.

He should have known, because everyone in the bloody mafia knew that though the Vongola was unquestionable top dog, they were bat-shit insane top dogs. After All, if the Vongola 'Traditions' were anything to go by, the founders were masochists anyway.

Mentally cursing the First generation of the Vongolas for ever even dreaming of creating this off-their-rocker famiglia as he tossed dynamite in an attempt to hold the two off for a couple seconds. He growled when the tag team ducked and continue zooming in on him.

He was a long-range to middle-range combat type, he wasn't bad at close-combat but he wasn't good at it either. Didn't help that one of them had freaking lit a sky flame a couple minutes ago and the other looked like he was very close to lighting his and setting him on fire.

"Shit" snared Gokudera as one of the twins, Natsu he thought, got close enough for him to punch him. Nearly dropping his dynamite in the process, he managed to avoid the punch before the other one, Tsuna, struck.

Blocking it with some pain on Gokudera's part, the three continued in a dance of dodges and blocks, Kicks and punches. His teeth grinding in frustration, Gokudera decided on one single, suicidal move that would cause knock out both sides of the battle.

He would have to count on himself waking up before the twins. Lighting a handful of dynamite, he hortelled it in the air above him, believe in his strength, the dynamite exploded and the last thing he saw before the smoke was stunned amber-brown eyes before his body fell, ablazed with burns. Not too long after two other bodies fell and his world went black.

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	15. Chapter 15: With the Rain comes the L

**AN****: Hello everyone, I have to apologize for this very late update. Things happened and 8th grade is not kind. This year my school is trying out a different curriculum and lots of stuff has change. There are problems with the schedule, my classes are are going to be changed soon, and I don't even want to go into the high school admission test and stuff. I'm afraid that there won't be much updates for a while.**

**Notes****: Okay, I got some reviews saying they think Tsuna is weak and needs to get stronger. People I need you to stop and step in Tsuna's shoes. Frankly if I was Tsuna, I would have froze at the sight of dynamite. I would have not even moved, I would be blown to smithers. When you can stand up to a crazy bomber, you can say that to me. And the crazy somersaulting and cartwheeling Tsuna did? I can't do that. If you can, good for you. On the other hand, Tsuna will get stronger. In a REALISTIC manner and pace. Meaning: I'm not making Tsuna god-like. Understand? good. Not Understand? Suck it up and go with it.**

**Chapter 15: With the Rain comes the Lightning **

As an italian and a mafioso, Gokudera was use to waking up in strange places and in strange ways. He had once woke up half buried in a dumpster by a stray cat that was trying, and failing, to fly. Then there was the other time he found himself hanging upside down from a balcony with another stray cat on his head. And then...You get the idea.

Still, that didn't prepare him to wake up to a giant bump on his head, with a cow kid screaming in his ear. With instincts trained from bloody massacres and chaotic battles, he darted into sitting position and opened his mouth only to shut it when his chest flared with pain.

Wrapping his arms around his stomach and clinching his eyes shut against the pain, Gokudera took deep breathes, ignoring the sudden half familiar panicked crashes that suddenly occurred along with the rushed footsteps zooming closer to him.

"Oi, baka. Calm down, it's going to hurt more if you don't relax" snapped a rough yet concerned voice as callous hands pushed him down on the couch he had been laying on, before his rather orthodox wakening.

"Ni-san! Don't be rude" a slightly higher, gentler, but equally concerned voice scolded, before turning to Gokudera. "Are you okay? I'll get you some painkillers if you need-"

The bawling of the cow kid , interrupted him, and sent a spike of pain through Gokudera's head. God, the noise was loud. A pained moan crawled up his throat and nearly escaped, if he hadn't gritted his teeth as a pounding headache formed in his skull.

"R-Reborn-kun! H-how, who is this kid?" shrieked one of the voices hysterically as Gokudera winced at the sheer ridiculous high pitch.

"Fuck" cursed one of them, "Reborn, who the hell is this kid? How the hell did he get in here-What happened to the window!"

"Come on, stop crying" pleaded the other to the cow, "It's all right, no one's going to hurt you. We just want to talk."

Slowly the cries dimmed to soft sniffles and guilty hiccups, and with that, Gokudera passed out. Again. Hopefully he wouldn't wake up in a cow pasture next time, and if another fucking cat was with him, he would blow it up, piece by piece.

* * *

Cooing at the small child in his arms, Tsuna sent a wary glance at Gokudera. The boy was badly injured, with burns that covered his chest and arms, but that didn't mean he wasn't dangerous. He wasn't sure how the other boy would react to being saved.

As it was, he wasn't exactly sure why he saved the boy. Maybe it was waking up and seeing the blood, and remembering the cold green eyes that had long lost hope yet still had that small spark of kindness that would grudgingly agree to complete a dying boy's last wish.

Gokudera had tried to kill him, but now that he could think clearly, he mused that it was his job of sorts, his way of getting food in his stomach and a roof over his head. In a way, in every job, you had to commit some evil to do some good.

It was like a grocer's job to chase away a starving thief that would need the grocer's food to live one more day. If the grocer didn't chase to thief away, the grocer would starve but if he did, the grocer would live and thief would starve.

In this, he could understand the bomber. It could also have to do with the fact he couldn't exact just kill or walk away from the bomber. What was he supposed to do, leave the bomber there? That just didn't seem right. That and he was pretty sure it was against the rules. Bad enough Natsu was on Hibari's bad side, he didn't want to be too.

Sighing as he saw the boy was unconscious, he turned his attention to the small child in his arms, his brows furrowed in confusion. The boy was about the same same age as Reborn with an italian's olive skin and a fluffy black afro.

His eyes were a startling green, like enchanting forests filled with mischievous and temperamental fairies. They would have been beautiful if they weren't filled with tears at the moment.

He was dressed in a white and black cow patterned jumpsuit and what looked like golden horns hung from both sides of his head, bandaged in white at the base. Sniffling, Tsuna would have thought the boy was normal if it weren't for the fact that the boy had came through the glass window if the glass shards on the floor said anything.

"Can you tell me your name?" He asked gently, as to not frighten the poor thing. "And how you got in here?"

"Lambo-san is Lambo-san" the child sniffled. "Lambo-san came to kill Reborn because Lambo-san wants to be boss of the Bovino. But Lambo-san came through the window and got hurt."

Cue wailing.

Shushing Lambo, he gently rocked the child in his arms even as he sighed over the window. He would have to replace it later. Hopefully Yamamoto wouldn't be too upset over it.

Yeah right, like happy-go-lucky Yamamoto would ever be mad. Still, they had crashed at the baseball player's house, covered in dirt and wounds, just so they wouldn't worry Nana.

Speak of the devil, Yamamoto appeared at the doorway of the Yamamoto's living room. Blinking in slight surprise at the broken window he glanced at Gokudera's prone form before flashing an easy going smile to Tsuna's apologetic expression. He raised an eyebrow at his unknown visitor but ignored it, distracted by Natsu and Reborn's one sided argument.

"Gomen Yamamoto-kun" Tsuna apologized even as Yamamoto waved his apologies away, "We shouldn't have just crashed here without warning, and I promise I'll pay for the window."

"It's fine" laughed Yamamoto, "Things happen. So..what happened?"

Before Tsuna could say a word, Natsu answered grumply for him. "Tsuna there, got into a fight with octopus-head over there. Very smart of you, Tsuna, going against a dynamite throwing mafioso."

"You mean you were playing that mafia game and got hurt? Why didn't you say so, earlier!" smiled Yamamoto innocently.

The two facepalmed but didn't say anything. The boy was as dense as a rock, both literally and figuratively. Really, the boy could take a rebound of his own baseball hits, which could go there fucking metal, without even a fucking bruise to show for it. Tsuna and Natsu just couldn't understand how he did it.

"So" the baseball lover asked casually. "Did Gokudera wake up?"

"A couple minutes ago" reported Tsuna, "but then he passed out almost immediately. Thanks for the first aid kit, from earlier, by the way. We really needed that.."

"No problem" Yamamoto said. "Just glad to help. Are you guys okay?"

"We're fine" said Natsu, sitting on one of the chairs, his legs crossed. "Don't know how we did it, but we only got some minor scratches. Octopus-head got hurt badly though. And the Kid cosplaying as a cow is hurt, just flew in through the window, we'll clean that up."

"Yeah" echoed Tsuna as he opened the first aid kit on the coffee brown table and fetched a roll of bandages along with a bottle of disinfectant. Quickly cleaning and bandaging Lambo's cuts, Tsuna turned to Yamamoto and said "Just show me the broom and I'll get it cleaned up."

"I told you, it's fine" scolded Yamamoto lightly, "I'll clean it up."

Faster than the twins could protest, Yamamoto disappeared and appeared a second later with a broom and pan in his hands. Setting the pan on the floor, Yamamoto quickly swept the glass into the pan and dumped it in the trashcan before leaving the cleaning utensils leaning against the wall.

As Yamamoto sat down, Tsuna glanced at Reborn, the cursed infant having not said a word, sipping coffee. "Neh, Reborn" he said, "Lambo-kun says he knows you, so..."

"The Bovino famiglia is a rather weak famiglia allied with the Vongola. The only good thing about it is their firearm arsenal. I don't associate with those lower class famiglia, so don't ask me. I don't know him."

"Reborn is a liar!" shrieked Lambo, bursting into tears, "Lambo-san met Reborn at the cafe when Reborn was blowing bubbles. Lambo-san will kill Reborn!"

Pulling a pink grenade out of his afro, the cow child threw it Reborn. Without batting an eyelash, Leon suddenly transformed into a lasso in Reborn's hand in which he used to grab the grenade and tossed it back to Lambo.

Eyes wide with panic and shock, Tsuna grabbed the grenade in mid air and threw it out the window. The explosion rocked the house but nothing was damaged. Taking deep shuddering breaths, Tsuna exchanged glances with an equally stunned Natsu.

Just what had they gotten into.

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	16. Chapter 16: Anger and Trust

**AN****: Hello, I'm back. Same as last time, a lot of things to do. I mean, honestly, who gives a project the first fucking week of school? **

**Note****: None**

**Chapter 16: Anger and Trust**

Natsu was a simple boy. He loved and he hated. He raged and smiled. He was human. So he couldn't help but want to smash Gokudera's face in, and maybe kick him where the sun doesn't shine for that matter, for trying to kill, to murder, his precious brother. He wasn't a forgiving person and only his sense of honor kept him from beating the silver head to a bloody death.

He couldn't understand why. Why would a person want to kill another? He read about it in the few times his brother forced a book in his hands, of kings and queens that fought for a throne, for power. Yet, he could never understand. He had seen what kind of burden power could be.

He saw it in the flashes of loneliness and sadness in his twin's eyes when he saw their peers looks of fear and mistrust. He knew it was his fault, and sometimes he pondered on pushing his twin away to protect him, yet he was always too selfish to do it in the end, even if the look in his twin's eyes broke his heart. Tsuna gave too much to stay with him, and Natsu couldn't help but love him for it, even as he slept with the knowledge that Tsuna had long since taken off rose tinted glass that had saved his innocence and had faced the world's brutal truth. He believes Tsuna is brave in that department, because he still can't bare to take the glasses off, he doesn't want to see.

He feels it with every bruise Hibari gives him in their fights because he still remembers seeing that small boy in the sandbox that everyone was scared of because of his powerful father and when he sees Hibari years later, he sees that he was so alone all these years that he doesn't know how to communicate beyond the bite of his tonfas and the fear he sends to every human being. He can't be his friend, Hibari doesn't know how to be a friend, so he becomes an enemy instead. Some of it is for Hibari and some is his honest anarchic beliefs, but he hopes that Hibari understands what he is trying to do.

Tsuna approves of what he is doing, Natsu knows, despite the balent exasperation Tsuna displays. He might hate the bruises that scatter his skin, but Tsuna approves of his heart.

Most of all, he heard it before in Yamamoto's voice, when suddenly baseball stop being fun and became a chore as responsibility was forced on his shoulders as the star of the baseball team. He heard it when suddenly Yamamoto's team stopped being his friends and started being followers instead, and he still can't forgive them for it when he nearly sees Yamamoto jump off the school roof in his despair 3 years ago when he broke his arm.

It is only with Tsuna's sorrowful honest voice and eyes dried of tears from the years since his dark reputation was formed and his own desperate voice and grabbing hands that saved Yamamoto from an early death. Yet he still sees a glimpse of the burden in Yamamoto's eyes sometimes.

Natsu himself is spared most of the burden. Basketball is nowhere as popular as baseball or even football (soccer). Yet even he feels the sheer dependency his teammates have on him, and because of it, he's scared of them in some secret part of him. Perhaps thats why he tosses basketball away so easily for his brother. He knows what being dependency will become, and he is grateful. But for now, he would just be glad that Tsuna will be there to pull him out if he fell into the trap that Yamamoto fell in.

He may not be Tsuna, but he has inherited his share of intuition.

So he doesn't trust Gokudera Hayato with his dynamite and his ambitious green eyes. Tsuna doesn't either, but he can see the cautious forgiveness in his eyes. Tsuna probably doesn't know of his unconscious decision, but Natsu can see it as clear as day, and he grits his teeth with silent anger and fear.

When it comes to time to leave, Yamamoto having offered to take Gokudera in for a while with ill-disguised hope, Natsu stares at Gokudera. And while the others aren't paying attention he whispers to the bomber as he laid comatose on the couch to watch himself, because if he made one wrong move, his brother be damned, he would slit the silver head's throat and dance upon his grave.

With one last look, Natsu joins his brother who is holding the child who came through the window in his arms and walks out the door to home, feeling as if everything would be fine even as his mind screamed that he just left a killer in his best friend's house. Reborn watched wordlessly on Tsuna's head with haunting opal eyes, knowing a resolve to kill to protect when he saw one.

* * *

Nana took Lambo in with gracious joy and appreciation even as Lambo squabbled and complained and broke things. Seeing Nana's happiness, Tsuna knows it is because his mother misses taking care of someone.

They had grown up too fast, and were too quick to mature. They didn't need her anymore, as much as he hated to admit it. Both of them could find a job and they knew how to cook and to clean and fill out the bills. For that, Nana feels useless, and Tsuna and his brother can't help but feel guilty.

There was only so much a woman could do on her own and it was not easy to take care of two boys all alone. The only thanks Tsuna could give to his father was that he sent enough money to support them.

But it is all useless when Nana couldn't read. She couldn't write either, she never had an education having been a daughter of a farmer. Tsuna knows for a fact that before they learned to read and write from school, Nana had to ask the neighbors for help with bills and such. It was only luck that Nana knew enough to shop and write and read their names. It was the only reason that Iemitsu never wrote but sent pictures instead.

Sighing, Tsuna winced as Lambo caused havoc around the kitchen, sending plates and chairs all across the room. The mess was causing him to gain an itch in his hands from his OCD, his mind practically screaming at him to clean the mess.

Growling as another plate, thankfully made of plastic and not china, crashed to the floor, Tsuna gave up. Pushing himself to his feet from his seat on the dining room table, Tsuna was about to grab Lambo by the back of his shirt before someone else beat him too it.

"Look brat" Natsu snared, eyes glaring daggers at the cow child as he pulled the child to his eye level , "I don't care if you come from freaking Mexico but this is my house and you're in Japan and you play by my rules. And guess what rule #1 is?"

Lambo's lips trembled but he shouted rebelliously , "Lambo-san doesn't follow rules. Lambo-san is the next boss of the great Bovino Family."

Less than 5 seconds later, Lambo was sporting a big fat bump on his head, facing the wall of the Sawada household, and holding back tears. Tsuna and Nana watched it all with a nervous eye, unsure if they should interfere.

"Ni-san..." Tsuna said hesitantly, recognizing the look in his twin's eyes, as there mother hovered over head, unsure of what to do. On one hand, Lambo was acting rather rudely but he was a child."Isn't that a little too...rough?"

Natsu snorted. "If I was rough, I'll have him bent over my lap for a good spanking. I say he should be glad we haven't kicked him out yet."

Sighing, Tsuna shooked his head and knelt down to face the small child. "Lambo-kun" he started gently, quickly gaining the attention of tear filled green eyes. "Do you know why Natsu hit you?"

When Lambo's eyebrows furrowed in confusion, Tsuna quickly explained. "Natsu is my twin brother, and the one that just hit you. I'm Tsuna and that nice lady over there is my mother. You already know Reborn."

"Well, I don't" grumbled Reborn, irritated.

"Just call me Maman" said Nana cheerfully.

Lambo nodded even as snot dribbled down his nose. Grabbing a tissue from the table, Tsuna handed it to Lambo who wiped his nose.

"So, do you know the answer?" asked Tsuna, even as Natsu snorted and said something about Lambo being 'too stupid to even understand that'.

"Lambo-san was rude and Lambo-san broke a lot of things" muttered Lambo reluctantly, looking down at his feet in guilt.

"Well, I'll give him that" said Natsu grudgingly. "He understood some of it."

Giving his twin a pointed glare, Tsuna turned his attention back to Lambo. "Do you know what you have to do now, then?"

Lambo blinked. "Say sorry?"

"...And?"

"...?"

"You have to help clean up the mess."

"Oh" said Lambo before nodded in compliance. Grinning broadly, Tsuna quickly fetched some cleaning supplies and the two started to clean up the kitchen.

"Well aren't you two a cute team" squealed Nana adoringly.

Natsu nodded in agreement. "Not as good as Me and Tsuna, of course" he added with a smirk. Tsuna rolled his eyes but didn't say anything to correct the statement. It was correct of course.

"Maman" said Reborn. "I'm hungry."

Humming in deep thought, Nana put a hand under her chin. "Well, how about I make some italian food for you, Reborn-kun? How about spaghetti with my special herb-blend tomato sauce. Oh, and maybe some carasau bread too..."

As Nana went into the kitchen, mumbling the recipes she was going to make under her breath, Natsu got on to his feet and stretch. "I'm going to help Ka-san with the food-" he mumbled before being interrupted by a frantic yell of protest.

"NO WAY IN HELL! GET AWAY FROM THE KITCHEN!" screeched Tsuna, eyes wide with horror and fear, before lowering his voice as he noticed Lambo's startled expression. "We just got the kitchen remodeled, you aren't going to destroyed it or, god forbid, burn down the house again! Stay here and help Lambo, I'M going to help cook."

Practically shoving the cleaning supplies in Natsu's hand, Tsuna ran into the kitchen, and slammed the door with a yell to 'STAY OUT, AND THAT MEANS YOU NATSU!', leaving his twin gapping.

"I'm not that bad" mumbled Natsu dejectedly.

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	17. Note

It is to my greatest apologies that I have decided to put this fanfic up for adoption. I have lost my muse somewhere last week. Since I can't write another chapter, I decided that you people can give it a shot. I just ask you to give me credit and alert me when you upload the first chapter so I can delete this one. I'm very sorry, but I'll post the link for the adopted story, if someone does adopt it, on my profile. Thank you all dear readers and sorry.  
Ayaki-chan


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